


Bound by Steel

by D3ath_0ps



Category: Sword Art Online, Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Action/Adventure, Drama & Romance, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-11-30
Updated: 2017-11-30
Packaged: 2019-02-08 20:23:00
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 24,813
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12872301
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/D3ath_0ps/pseuds/D3ath_0ps
Summary: One of the most technologically advanced virtual reality headsets of all time, the NerveGear, has finally gotten its first major video game launch, an MMORPG simply named Sword Art Online. Izuki Endo, a nineteen year old collegiate student studying to be a software engineer in the heart of Tokyo, along with two of his friends manage to snag their copies of the game, and waste no time to jump right in when the servers finally opened. Little did they know, something far sinister was lurking in the background, ready to reek havoc on the ten thousand mammals already logged into the game...





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> My entry into the NaZoWriMo challenge.
> 
> I didn't quite make it to the 50k goal due to work and life in general, I'm proud to present what I've done.
> 
> Rights of the world/environment/characters of both Sword Art Online and Zootopia are owned by Reki Kawahara and Walt Disney/Walt Disney Animation Studio respectively. Please support the official releases of both IPs.

 

Snowfall blanketed the dark streets of Myujen and the ginormous fir tree towering at the center of the market filled plaza. The place was packed tail to tail with other animals of varying species and builds attempting to purchase gifts for the coming holiday, the commotion was nearly deafening to the fox who was merely a simple observer standing on the sidelines—which wasn’t at _all_ some over exaggeration of the truth, and absolutely didn’t make him roll his eyes.

That aside, he felt that the plaza and it’s energy felt almost exactly like a mall he used to visit a couple years back, back when he was still in Japan. Back when he wasn’t trapped like some wild animal….

A shiver ran down the fox’s spine, causing his light steel colored armor to clatter in his ears. The thought never sat well with him.

He had only heard the stories over the internet of the incident back in the United States of Mammalia involving predator mammals turning into what the news outlets called ‘savage’ when it was just beginning to spread nearly seven years ago. It didn’t take much time to figure out that this was merely a side effect from a highly concentrated form of Midnicampum Holicithias, and counter measures were quickly put into place worldwide in light of this. He couldn’t help but wonder why someone would attempt something so dastardly as to put other mammals in danger like that sheep did, but eventually the thought slipped into the far reaches of his mind. The past was in the past.

The thought of time stuck with him as he stared aimlessly at the flakes of snow still falling from the sky. Today’s date was December 19th, 2023. If he wanted to be more exact, it was nearly eight o’clock at night.

How quickly had a whole year passed them all by? It seemed like only yesterday that he booted up his game for the first time like any of the other ten thousand players who purchased the game as he did. They were ready to be the first of their generation to dive into the newest pinnacle of what video gaming had to offer—virtual reality.

With help from some of the greatest minds of their time, one mammal decided to push the current technology to its limit. His name was Kayaba Akihiko. Quantum physicist, designer, and creator of the first fully immersive virtual world. Gone were the days of blindly stumbling around a room with a screen inches from your muzzle. Using microwaves to send information directly to the brain, one could actually visit these worlds and experience them first hand. The concept was revolutionary. The execution was out of this world. And the results proved it.

So it didn't surprise anyone that this technology would be utilized to create the first Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing Game, or VRMMORPG for short. It would be produced by a up and coming game company named _Argus_ with Kayaba leading the charge as a development director after being a manager of the third development branch of the company for a few years. On August 31st, 2022, the  closed beta test concluded. On October 31st, the game began selling in stores all across Japan and eventually sold out the first wave. And finally, on November 6th, the servers officially opened to the public.

 

This game was called _Sword Art Online_.

 

When it was first announced at a gaming expo a year prior, everyone was talking about it. It seemed like virtual reality was really starting to take off. The consumers were going crazy. With each and every press conference, interview, and news article regarding the subject, gamers simply had to get their paws on a copy.

“But we had no idea what was in store,” the fox spoke to no one in particular.

He was one of the lucky ten thousand who was caught up in the hype of ‘the next generation of gaming.’ He and a couple of friends decided to skip their university classes _—_ while still receiving lectures and homework from another one of their friends _—_ to camp out at their local video game retailer and pick up _SAO_ and it's subsequent headset, the _NerveGear,_ before they sold out of the first wave.

A week later, at exactly one o'clock in the afternoon, he and his friends logged into the game and took their first step onto the floating egg shaped castle the game resided in: Aincrad. This massive structure is said to be at least ten kilometers in diameter at its base and stacked upward one hundred floors. Sitting atop this massive structure was the one hundredth floor, the final level of the game, the Ruby Palace. That was what everyone on the frontline were trying to fight towards.

Because, who else was going to do it? The mammals cowering in fear in the Town of Beginnings? Being on the frontline meant that you were the best of the best and were willing to put your life on the line to fight for the freedom of the mammals trapped in this game, this _hell_.

For the players who had logged into the game when it opened its doors, they found that something very crucial was missing from their menu screens: the logout button. Normally with major bugs, the gamemasters running the game would force all players who were currently logged in and manually log them out so they could find and fix the problem. For the players, a launch of a big MMO such as _SAO_ , seeing a bug on the day of launch was to be expected. No one thought nothing of it.

How naive they all were.

Five hours later, all players logged into the game were teleported to the central plaza in the Town of Beginnings, the starting point for all new players. Seconds after the sky had turned red with <WARNING> signs and the creator of the game _—_ _his_ world as he put it _—_ had made a bloody entrance. But, his flare wasn’t the point to his opening ceremony, or the tutorial as other mammals would call it, including Kayaba. This meeting was the true beginning of this game.

As Kayaba put it himself: “ _From this point onward, you will be unable to freely log out of the game until the summit of this castle is conquered. Furthermore, the NerveGear cannot be removed or shut down via external means. If forceful means of exit are attempted the high-powered microwaves emitted by the NerveGear will scramble your brain and shut down your vital processes…._

_“To be more specific, the brain-frying sequence will commence upon any of the following circumstances: ten minutes of no external power; two hours of network disconnection; removal, dismantling, or destruction of the NerveGear…._

_“However, proceed with caution...when your hit points dwindle to zero, your avatar will be permanently deleted... and the NerveGear will destroy your brain._ ”

To solidify his point, the ‘creator’ make it clear to specify that two-hundred thirteen players had already met their untimely demise because of family members attempting to remove the device, and only fueled the fear and paranoia that the lot of them were trying to mask behind their in-game avatars, until that very element was stripped away from them as well. The moment the sky had returned to normal, and the players were left to their own devices, the game had truly begun.

 

Kayaba Akihiko had successfully created the perfect cage. They were trapped in a virtual world with little to no chance of escape. This game was no longer a game. This was _real_.

 

From that moment on that reality became the iron-clad truth of this world. Some took the news in stride, being some of the first to venture outside of the Town of Beginnings in light of this new revelation and reaping the rewards, while others grew fearful and stayed behind within the comfort of the town’s Safe Zone where they would remain there and come to terms with their situation. However, there were some who couldn’t handle it. They broke.

Subsequently, the endless sky below the castle served as the final resting place for many during that time, and within the first month a total of two thousand mammals had died. And at that point the players had not even reached the second floor. Hope seemed lost to many, and most of the players who decided to fight through had ventured back to the Town of Beginnings. It wasn’t until December 3rd that a party of forty-four players _—_ including a certain _beater_ who had fought alongside them _—_ that they were finally able to make it to the next floor of the game. The news brought many holding up in the towns around the floor back out into the wilderness, ready to fight once again.

“We had hope,” the fox spoke again.

With this newfound hope they fought through. Fought through the pain, through the misery, and the fear. In turn the frontlines broke through the final boss of the third floor, then the fourth, the fifth, and soon they became the fighting force for the eight thousand still alive. A year later, they broke through to the forty-ninth floor of the castle. Now everyone could revel in the spoils of their handiwork. Although, the tod wasn’t sure how long this would last.

Rumor had it that the players on the frontlines were getting closer to the boss of the floor, which meant that they would be halfway clear. At the pace they were going, it would be another year until they were finally free from this floating prison.

_What would the world be like when we get out_ , the tod wondered, the thought bringing a smile to his muzzle. _How different would things be?_

Then came another bright thought. Crimson flushed onto his face.

_Will I be able to find her—_

Before he could finish the thought a purple message icon popped up in front of him, floating just below eye level. He tapped onto the hexagonal interface and brought up the incoming message so he could see who it was that decided to spark some conversation. Then again, he already had a good idea of who it was in the first place.

Finished with his guessing, he read the message in his head.

 

_Hey Idu,_

 

_Guardian, Serif, and I just finished up with our leveling. We’re heading back to town now. Hope to see you there!_

 

__-Kara_ _

 

A slow exhale left the fox’s muzzle as his gaze looked upward towards the sky _—_ or rather the ceiling of the floor above. He continued to watch the graceful look of the artificial snowfall and how each flake seemed to melt on his armor and fur. To think after being in the same group for so long he would get used to messages from his guildmates, his partners. For the most part, he was, or at least that's what he thought anyways.

Kara… Kara was a different story entirely. He didn’t have the same control as he did around the others. Was it because she was a vixen? Perhaps. There weren’t many female players in the game to begin with so it wasn’t a farfetched idea. It couldn’t be because he was a nerd, they were all nerds playing a role-playing video game, of course that wouldn’t be the case. Saving him could also be a reason, though if he could be more specific, the first time. Not the billion other times she’s had to save his skin.

A sly grin grew on his muzzle. No. He knew exactly why he couldn’t figure it out. Even if the game couldn’t fully replicate animal instincts to the letter, he now knew exactly what he was feeling after a long year of fighting alongside her.

Love.

_How did I manage to get so lucky as to find her,_ the thought echoed softly in his head, recalling all of the good times that they shared together. That is until he recalled what circumstances gained him this luck in the first place. Would it be called luck to begin with?

The smile ran away from his face as fast as it had appeared. _That’s right,_ he frowned at the memory, _that was when she saved my life…_

 

_That was the day it all started..._


	2. First Sight

 

“You need to prep the sword skill before you use it, Sota! Flailing your sword around him won’t do anything!”

_Clank!!_

The hostile wolf in front of the dazed fox stared menacingly into his brown eyes, the weight of the blade against his own making it difficult for him to hold the taller predator back. Idu was lucky that he was able to block the attack in time. Another hit would bring his life below fifty percent.

“I'm trying! It isn't working Izuki,” the other fox panicked, “it isn’t working!!”

With a strong push with the flat edge of his blade, Idu managed to create some distance between him and the wolf clad in light leather armor, and almost brought a smile to his muzzle. The move actually worked. But, any celebration was sadly trumped by one of the other wolves taking their comrades place. How was this even remotely fair?

The newcomer stood ready to attack, the other standing aside to lick his wounds. Idu readied his own blade. He tried to find his breath. Although, he quickly realized that his breathing wasn’t only heavy from the fighting and physical strain, but the sheer panic building inside of him was starting to take its toll.

“Just… just calm down….”

Their situation was worsening by the second. Wolves were now beginning to surround their position with each passing second. Their numbers had now grown to five total, and neither Idu or Sota could handle a single wolf on their own. They both were starting to crack under the pressure of the new law of this world. The chance of them winning this fight had whittled away to nearly nothing. How pathetic was that?

It was clear that they weren’t ready for this. They weren’t ready for any of this. The two of them had barely any experience with the combat system even after having the luxury of logging in right at one o’clock. Idu and Sota had only spent around thirty minutes in the fields around the Town of Beginnings before the big announcement. But, it wasn’t just the two of them practicing. They were also accompanied by another one of their friends, another victim pulled into Kayaba’s trap: Kadin.

Kadin, Kazawa Domen as he was called in the real world, was a student attending university to become a software engineer just like Izuki and Sota had decided, and like them was a fox. They all had grown up together on the outskirts of Tokyo in Tokorozawa, and had known each other since they were very little. One thing that they all shared in common was their love for digital media. Kazawa specifically had a love for virtual reality, always going on about the newest releases and newest hit titles that made the platform really pop. So when he caught wind of a MMO being developed for a full dive environment, he made sure to tell both Izuki and Sota about it.

When they first dived into the game a year and a half later, he was the one who was the most awestruck out of the three of them. He wanted to test out every element he could before they ventured off past the Town of Beginnings, the shopping, the physics, and the menu. The menu took Kadin the most time to figure out, and the fact that he was a slow learner didn’t help either. So while he spent the majority of his time around the town, Idu and Sota went ahead and tried out the combat systems. After around thirty minutes of strolling through the plains surrounding the town picking a couple of fights with a few low level boars, Kadin managed to finally catch up with the two of them. After telling the two of them about navigating through the menus, he took it upon himself to get into his first fight with some minions.

The first encounter went as well as it could for someone’s first time with the game, the mechanics weren’t easy to comprehend at first. Before you could attack using your sword, you had to activate the sword skill, then make your move. At the time Kadin still didn’t understand the concept of how the skill worked, and if they were being completely honest Idu and Sota barely understood it either, so Kadin was adamant on trying it again.

This was the moment where they should have just gone back to town and asked someone who actually knew what they were doing. But, they were too stubborn to consider this option.

The next fight Kadin found was another low level boar close to their location. The two foxes watched as his friend took on his next challenge from the sidelines. Compared to the boar in front of him, Kadin’s health was already halfway gone. From what they could tell this game didn’t have regenerative health, and they didn’t spawn with anything other than their basic gear, so if they wanted to bring their health back up they would have to go back to the Town and buy a few potions. However, they didn’t think anything of it. It was a level one boar. Worst case scenario they would have to regroup back at the plaza of the Town of Beginnings once Kadin respawned. They felt safe.

Kadin began the fight and began flailing his sword in an attempt to inflict some sort of damage to the hostile boar, but found himself still struggling to comprehend how to utilize the one skill the entire game was based on. As a result, the boar continued to land hit after hit before the health bar of the fox finally hit zero. He let out a wail…

…Then his avatar exploded into a plume of blue shards.

He had _died_.

Regardless if they knew it at the time or not, he had truly died right before their very eyes with not even so much as a goodbye. It was a pain that neither Idu or Sato could even begin to comprehend. Now here they were, trying to avenge the death of their friend amidst the panic, and now they were losing their composure.

They had to do something. Both of them knew that they couldn’t just sit in the town and do nothing. They needed to get out. Out of this, out of this game, this _hell._

Idu looked around. There were two wolves focused on Sato to his right. To his left were another two wolves who had nearly made it to their position. That left the only other wolf in the area to be the one he—

_"Grrrrrah!”_

“Shit!”

Idu took a step backward and blocked the wolf’s incoming attack as sparks flew from the contact of both of their swords. The fox barely held the wolf back as he continued to push him back further away from his friend. If these wolves were to cut them off completely, they could very well die right then and there. They needed some sort of plan. Now.

Out of the corner of his eye Sato had gotten away from the first wolf that was engaging him before, but was now faced with the other wolf that had now begun to enter the fray. Again, he was still trying desperately to do something to hold back the enemy as well as he could, but all he did was continue to swing his sword aimlessly in the NPC’s direction. After a fourth unsuccessful swing, the wolf finally took advantage of this and made it’s move, slicing Sato’s left hip. A straight line of light red clearly indicated where the blade had met its target.

Sato’s hit points dipped below thirty percent and the gauge above his head turned red. His blue eyes widened. Before he had a chance to react, the wolf swiped his sword to the right, knocking the weapon from the fox’s grasp, disarming him completely.

Idu’s eyes shot open. “Sato!”

He ran out of time. He had to get to him. Fast. There was no time to second guess himself. He needed to fight.

Idu pushed the wolf back once again, then placed the sword over his shoulder, activating the sword skill as the blade shone a hue of bright blue. A scream full of adrenaline and anger belted from his throat.

“ _Hyaaaaah!!”_

The sword dug deep into the wolf’s torso, and watched as the blow drained a large portion of it’s life. He dug the sword and twisted the blade around in the wound until the bar floating above his head had depleted entirely. Idu pulled the sword out of the wolf’s body as it went limp, the figure promptly exploding into a flurry of blue polygonal shards. The fox took a breath.

The first wolf had finally been defeated.

Idu looked up to the fox that stood defenseless against the wolf in front of him, his sword resting flat against the grass a couple feet to the right. The wolf in front of Sato raised his sword and activated a sword skill of its own and readied for another attack. The fox let out a wail as tears welled up in his eyes.

Idu took a few steps toward him in an attempt to help, but was quickly confronted with the wolf that had fought with him earlier.

 _Dammit,_ the curse echoed in his head while a growl rumbled low in his throat. He readied another attack.

The sound of metal slicing through flesh once again filled the air, Sato yelling out a fearful cry. Idu’s attention couldn’t help but pick up on the scene, the sword slicing straight through Sato’s forearm, the dismembered limb falling to the ground with a soft _thump_. Brash, petrified screams filled the air. Just less than ten percent of his health was all that remained.

“ _Gyyaaaaahhhhh!!!”_

Idu struck the wolf in front of him with a powerful attack, knocking the NPC down on it’s backside. Now was his chance. He extended his paw outward towards his friend.

“Sat—”

Before he could finish calling out to him, the wolf had already begun making its final move with no chance to block it in time. The sword sliced through the fox’s head with a nauseating motion, leaving a flat red slash from temple to temple. The fox’s body fell down to the ground without so much as a word as his health gauge dropped to zero, then disappeared.

“Sato…?”

The body remained there for a moment, frozen in place as if time had stood still, and finally exploded into an array of bright blue shards.

“No…”

Tears began to well in Idu’s eyes. His arms fell helplessly to their sides, and his sword fell from his paw to the earth as he felt the weight of the world pull him to the ground, his knees crashing to the dirt below him. He stared silently at a space that Sato had occupied and the sword that still remained. He waited. He waited for something. Anything. Maybe he would just reappear? Maybe he would respawn right back at the Town of Beginnings? He couldn’t believe he was dead. He couldn’t be.

He waited a few more seconds. Then, reality began setting in.

His friends were dead. They were both gone, from this world and in the real world. He would never see them ever again. He would never get to talk with them again, he would never be able to tell them hello when they came to class in the morning, he wouldn’t be able to do anything with them anymore. They were gone. He failed them.

Idu brought his head low, tears streaming down his face, ears flat against the back of his head. He spoke in a low voice, just loud enough for the NPC’s to hear his plea if they were listening.

“Kill me.”

The wolf who dealt the final blow to Sato walked slowly over to the lone fox and let out a menacing growl. Idu stared at the shadow stretched across the ground, seeing the blade in its paw raise. The fox closed his eyes and waited for the end. He didn’t know what exactly death would feel like in this world, nor did he really care. He only hoped that it would come quickly and as painless as possible.

He focused on the health bar located on the top left section of his heads up display. He grimly wondered how long it would take for his hit points to reach zero. Would it take one or two direct hits before death?

Before he had a chance to find out, he felt something else rushing through the air, causing the exposed fur on his arms and head to ruffle about. The hostile wolf let out a sharp whine, the sound of metal hitting flesh reaching the fox’s ear. Another look at his health bar proved that it wasn’t him who got hit, so who did?

Idu slowly opened his eyes, his blurry vision finally showing him what—or who rather—prevented his impending doom. Before him was a petite caramel colored vixen clad in a maroon colored skirt, white longsleeve shirt, and dark brown leather armor. Her light red eyes were locked onto the hostile in front of her, the look of intense focus stoically written all over her face. All Idu could do was watch helplessly from the ground as she stepped in front of him and stood her ground.

The vixen activated her sword skill and let out a thundering cry.

_“Hyyyaaaah!”_

The sword in her paws swiped leftward and the tip of her blade followed her movement obediently, leaving a digital trail of red in its wake. The wolf winced in pain from the attack. It’s health was significantly lower, but still showed a small sliver of red that refused to budge. Before the enemy had a chance to react to his situation, the vixen had already charged up another attack and was ready to strike again.

The tip of her blade struck the wolf one final time, deciding the NPC’s fate as he began to fall, freezing in place before exploding into a million polygonal shards. Another wolf had been defeated.

Her voice echoed throughout the fields as she called out a question.

“Guardian, how are we looking on the ones in the back?”

Before Idu had the chance to investigate who she was talking to, another mammal stepped up beside the vixen, joining the fray as he twirled his sword loosely around in his right paw. He looked to be a lion, his mane being the giveaway to this assumption. He could feel the lion’s smugness as he replied to the vixen beside him.

“I could go for another. For a second I thought that we were really connecting, but I guess they weren’t interested.” He lifted the sword from his side and pointed it in the wolf’s direction. “Maybe I’ll have some luck with this one?”

The wolf in front of them gave a stark growl, his stance becoming more tense.

“What? Was it something I said?”

“Kill first, talk later. Protecting is the number one priority.”

For a moment the two of them went silent, then the lion brought his sword at the ready, a strong, unwavering stance making the clear transition in his voice a suitable reason for the shiver that ran promptly down Idu’s spine.

“Understood.”

“I’ll take on the last enemy, I’ve still got eighty HP left. By the looks of it he still has ninety or so. After he’s taken care of we’ll leave the area. Even if we’re one level ahead of these guys, it still puts us at too great a risk with our friend here. Stay here and make sure he’s safe.”

“Roger that.”

The caramel furred vixen strode forward towards the wolf and brought the sword in her right hand on downward angle with a harsh flick. The tod silently watched in awe while the lion kept his eyes on the surrounding area. The wolf snarled at the defiant fox walking towards him then let out a loud howl. As soon as the howl ended, the wolf sprinted towards her, the intent to kill blatantly carved into his eyes. Fear chilled Idu to his very bone. That wolf was too strong for her. A fresh set of tears watered the fur around his eyes. He called out to her in desperation.

“Don’t do it! Run away! He’s too strong—”

“Don’t worry,” the lion spoke to him with a smile, bringing the tod’s attention towards him. “If anyone can handle these kind of situations, it’s her. Trust me. You have nothing to worry about.”

Idu slowly turned his gaze back to the remaining wolf and  the vixen, watching as the hostile predator neared its target. Although he had plenty of reason to trust the lion since he seemed to have dispatched two of these enemies single-handedly, he couldn’t help his sense of doubt. These wolves had already claimed two souls. Why would this be any different?

When the wolf neared her position, she brought her sword up and prepared to block his incoming attack from the right. The blades rang loudly with a loud _clang_ when they made contact with each other, the sound almost piercing to the fox’s ears. The tod couldn’t imagine how the wolves were able to stand it. The blade bounced off of the vixen’s and made the wolf falter a step as he attempted to retain his composure. She took advantage of this opportunity to use the butt of her blade to push the wolf back another step further. That was her window.

She allowed herself enough time to charge up her blade for the next attack, bringing the sword over her shoulder as it shone a bright blue. Once the skill was ready, she swiped her sword downward, the attack causing the wolf to cry out in pain. It was a successful hit. A large chunk of it’s life had been stripped away from the mob’s health bar.

Obviously not pleased with the attack, the wolf recovered from the hit and prepared another attack of his own. Before any of them knew it his blade cut through the air with a loud _whoosh,_ the motion barely registering in the tods brain. It wasn’t until the sharp metallic sound of blades making contact that the fox realized that the vixen had easily blocked the wolf’s upcoming advance to her left side like it was child’s play. She then charged up another sword skill and struck the wolf directly in the middle of his chest. Another whine escaped the larger predator’s throat. It seemed like he didn’t stand a chance.

But, the thought quickly dissipated when the NPC decided to push through the pain and start up another attack of his own. The next set of moves he made transpired within the matter of only a couple seconds. The wolf’s blade in his right paw turned into a bright shade of blue, signifying that another sword skill was ready for use. Once the skill was ready his eyes shot around, looking around the vixen’s body for some sort of opening. Then, once he found an opening he could work with, he brought his sword at the ready and went for his attack, the blade connecting with the vixen’s exposed right side.

The move left the fox dazed for a moment before she took a few big steps backward to give herself some distance. Upon further inspection the wound on her side wasn’t too bad, it only knocked down ten percent of the eighty she had before. If she was successful with her next hit, the wolf would be dead and they’d have a clear shot for the Town of Beginnings.

She brought her sword at the ready. The wolf readied his own sword. For a moment, time seemed to stand still. A breeze rolled through the plains that ruffled the fur of the mammals both watching and fighting. The whole situation felt surreal to Idu in a way. It was like watching two samurai in one of those cheesy action movies. Only one victor would triumph, and if the health bars were any indicator, this battle was nearing it’s end.

Another few seconds passed them by. Then, the wolf became impatient. A loud growl built up in his throat, a loud scream to follow as he kicked up dirt and ran towards the vixen.

_"Graaaaaahhh!”_

Not allowing her opponent to gain the upper hand, the vixen went ahead and followed suit, letting out her own powerful cry to ring in the air as she ran towards the wolf. A sword skill began to activate, turning her blade a soft shade of blue.

_“Hyaaaaaah!”_

The two proceeded to get closer to each other, each step feeling as if they were moving in slow motion. Idu felt the tension building inside him amidst the nervousness that kept his body shaking in apprehension. Then came the moment of truth. The player and hostile NPC readied their blades…

_Clank!_

...And made their moves as they passed each other by.

The four mammals present waited as seconds passed them by, then watched as the wolf’s HP depleted to nothing. The predator fell to his knees and his sword fell to the ground, his head slowly coming apart at the neck before rolling through the grass before they both exploded into a million blue shards.

The vixen had done it. She won.

She let out a slow breath, then sheathed the weapon back onto the holder on her side. Idu watched as she walked back over to him and the lion, the same straight look she wore before looking directly at the the lion.

“Let’s get out of here. That howl will bring more over if we don’t leave soon. That battle took way too long.”

“Right,” the lion nodded, sheathing his own weapon while he continued to keep watch.

The vixen blinked and turned her gaze to the fox still sitting on the ground, causing the tod to flinch impulsively. He didn’t know how to feel. Safe? Scared? His mind was still trying to process the fight that just transpired.

He watched a smile form on the other fox’s muzzle. She crouched down to his level, and softly spoke to him.

“Lucky we came around when we did. Those wolves can be a handful when you’re outnumbered. Are you okay?”

The question lingered in the air for a second, the words slowly registering themselves into the tod’s brain. At first, he didn’t know what she meant exactly. But, slowly the pieces started falling back into place. Tears once again found themselves welling in the fox’s eyes.

His friends were dead. The mammals that he had known since they were kits, both Kadin and Sato were gone, killed by this stupid game and it’s new cruel reality. He couldn’t believe it. He didn’t want to believe it. They were alive. They had to be. There was no way that Argus would allow the NerveGear to backfire on it’s user as Kayaba described. Sure, the device used microwave transceivers  to send false signals to the brain, but they weren’t powerful enough to _kill_ someone… right?

The fox’s eyes went wide. There was one detail that had to have been overlooked, something that consumers wouldn’t think twice about. _The safety switch._ Thirty percent of the weight of the NerveGear came from it’s battery. In order to turn the transceivers up to full blast, it would require a massive amount of energy to power them to the point where they could become harmful to the user. With the device's battery, the sensors could easily receive enough power. This is why Argus made sure to include a safety mechanism for their customers so this scenario wouldn’t be possible. However, if the NerveGear automatically shipped with the switch turned off, that meant that the device could very well be a ticking time bomb.

Kayaba was right.

“My…. My friends….” He stammered, snotty sniffles sounding from the tod’s nostrils. The grief that had fallen over his heart was starting to take hold. His upper body fell over, his arms barely able to support its weight as they shook with each sob. “They’re dead. My friends are gone! They're gone… they're gone…”

“Hey, hey… come on now,” the vixen attempted to sooth as her paw placed itself onto the tod’s back. She began petting him. “It’s okay… it’s okay. You’re safe now. We’ve got you…”

The words the vixen spoke were drowned out with the increased sobs and anguished cries of the tod, the gravity of the situation truly pulling him back to the earth.

What was he going to tell their parents when (or if) he were to ever leave this place? That their sons fought valiantly to be set free of the shackles of this world? That they died with dignity and honor like true swordsmen would? No. They died pitifully at the paws of the very first floor of the game. They didn't even make it to the next town. How pathetic they were.

What made it seem worse for the tod was that he not once, but twice sat back and watched his friends die from the sidelines. He couldn't fathom how Kadin must have felt the moment he got back to the real world, only to perish at the paw of Kayaba and the NerveGear. The poor soul probably didn't know what was happening to him. All Idu could hope for was that  both of his friends’ deaths came swift and painless, but seeing as how their brains were being cooked from the inside, he highly doubted that to be the case.

It should have been him. Of all mammals that should be dead instead of his friends, it should've been him. They didn't deserve a fate such as this. No one deserved this. This was cruelty beyond anything he had ever witnessed in his life. Savage animals had nothing on what Kayaba was doing to these poor souls. It was madness—

“Hey.”

With one word the vixen snapped the sniffling tod out of his trance, her stoic sounding tone bringing the entirety of his attention to her.

“We need to get out of here. Can you walk?”

Idu, albeit hesitantly, nodded his head. He attempted standing up from his position on the ground,  both of his legs wobbling as he brought himself up, gaining a hurried help from the vixen beside him until he was standing fully.

The three of them began walking back to the Town of Beginnings, the lion being the one to take point as the vixen assisted the tod with his waking—which he now realized that he was having trouble with. The female fox flashed him another warm grin.

“Once we get back to the Town of Beginnings we’ll be safe,” she spoke softly. “I don't think I ever got your name. I was so focused on keeping you safe I didn't even think about it. What's your name?”

The tod looked at her, almost confused by the tonal shift in her voice, but cast the useless thought aside before giving her an answer.

“My… my name’s Idu,” his glum voice softly spoke.

She brought her gaze forward as she continued to partly support him, that same look of determination brightly shone on her face.

“Nice to meet you, Idu. My name’s Kara.”


	3. To Hide or Seek

 Idu sat silently in his seat at the table while both vixen and lion quietly conversed amongst themselves on the other side. Other than the three of them and a few NPCs, they were the only other players inside the small tavern, the distant sound of the bustle of the marketplace adding a soft ambience to the space.

A warm cup of tea that the fox named Kara recommended sat in front of him, it's warmth sending steam into the air as it remained untouched by the tod. Needless to say he wasn't particularly in the mood for drinking then. The same harrowing images now embedded into his brain kept eating away at him, and only made him feel worse about his situation.

Along with less than nine-thousand eight-hundred players, he was now trapped in a virtual world. Both of his friends were now dead; one had been cruelly slaughtered by a pack of merciless wolves, while the other for trying to learn the basic mechanics of _Sword Art Online_. What made this even more unbelievable was that thanks to Kayaba Akihiko, they weren't just dead inside the game, they were already dead on the other side as well—the real world.

He should have done more. He should have stopped Kadin from being so reckless and figured out the combat system. They could've practiced in a separate field outside of the Town of Beginnings, but the overly excited Kadin insisted that he take the challenge head on and learn the moves himself. He should have been more persistent. And instead of waiting back in the Town of Beginnings and taking things one step at a time, Idu was the one to insist that they venture outside the safety of the town and conquer this game themselves out of fear and irrationality. He wasn't thinking clearly, and they had no idea what they were doing when it came to actual sword fights. What made it worse was that Sato went along with it. He trusted him. Now look what had happened.

Sato and Kadin’s deaths were on his paws. They were absolutely his fault. He should have done more to protect them. He should have been cautious. After Kayaba’s speech in the plaza the last thing Idu should have did was throw this fact to the side and treat it like it was nothing. This was life and death. He wasn't immortal. What he displayed was nothing more than  blatant foolishness bordering on arrogance, and his friends paid the price.

The guilt built up in his heart was too much for him. He didn't want to live with this on his conscience. How could anyone live with the fact that they could've very well prevented the death of two mammals if they just used their head for a moment? It was too much. He couldn't live with this. He had no right to be alive. He might as well be—

“Hey, Idu?” a voice called out from the other side of the table. The tod's head pulled up so that his sullen eyes meet the light red irises that stared back at him. “Are you still there? You aren't lagging, are you?”

The tod’s gaze slowly lost its focus and his head tilted back down to the drink in front of him. The steam was notably starting to lessen. Kara bought him the drink, he might as well try to enjoy it while it was still warm.

He took the cup into his paws, then mumbled some sort of answer to her question, “I'm still here.”

Although his gaze was locked onto the drink, he could see in his peripheral vision that she was somehow dissatisfied with the answer she received. Idu sighed and let the reaction just roll off of his shoulders. He was just telling the truth, nothing more.

Idu took a sip of the free drink and let the flavor bounce around on his tongue. It wasn't the best by any means, but it was good enough to enter his stomach, and that was good enough for him. He set the cup back down on the table and went back to aimlessly staring at the liquid inside.

Kara’s voice then spoke softly over the ambient sound of the crowds walking through the markets outside the building, pulling the tods attention.

“I'm glad. When we saw what happened with your friend, I honestly didn't think we would make it in time to save you.”

She went quiet for a moment, then started in a  more somber tone, her muzzle pointed towards the table.

“Listen, I can’t say how sorry I am for what happened back there. For someone new to get caught up in all of this, let alone almost fall victim, I can't imagine what you must be going through. If only I had saw what was going on sooner—”

“It's my fault.”

His cutoff made the vixen pull her head up to Idu, her ears rising just above the peak of her head as she looked at him with a puzzled look. This wasn't her fault. Not by a long shot.

The tods paws gripped the cup as he spoke his peace. “I was the one who pressured Sato to leave the Town of Beginnings, and I pulled him into that two on two fight. We were scared with what Akihiko told us. Being trapped in a video game like some caged animal? It scared us half to death. We wanted to get out. _I_ wanted to get out.”

Idu stared solemnly at the table as another round of tears threatened to break him down. He tried in a desperate attempt to hold them back as much as he could, but failed as some fell into the fur around his eyes.

“It wasn't just the two of us though. We had another friend with us when we first started. His name was Kadin. He was the one who got us into the idea of picking the game up in the first place. We waited three days in a long line together just to ensure that we could get our own copy. When we logged in, you should have seen his face. He lit up like a firework. It was like he was a little kit again.

“When he finally hunkered down and began trying to figure out the mechanics of the game, he decided that he wanted to experience his first real fight. So we ventured outside of the town and found a lone boar standing in a field. His first fight went as well as you'd expect for a newbie, he was pretty beat up, but he won. He still didn't have a solid idea of what he was doing with the sword skills, and he was hankering to learn. We should have stopped him right then and there. We didn't have any potions on us, and we surely didn't prepare anything in terms of protection, coupled with the fact that we were as inexperienced as they come, retreating back to town would've been our best bet. But, he ran over to the next hostile he could anyways and began another fight.

“When it was over, Kadin had been slain, and all me and Sato did was shake our heads and laugh. I should have stopped him.”

“You didn't know, Idu,” the lion spoke. “There was no way you could've known before the announcement. None of us knew.”

“It doesn't matter,” the fox retorted, “we still should have gone back and at the very least bought some potions. We had every chance to collect ourselves and re-evaluate the situation instead of charging into some fight. Even after the announcement, I made the same mistake and even pressured Sato to come with me. Now he's gone. Kadin’s gone. They're both dead because of me—”

“Idu,” the vixen said, taking her paws into the tods, “it isn't your fault.”

Both foxes locked gazes as hazel met ruby, the tod struggling to understand the vixen’s words. This _was_ his fault. Was she not listening to a word he said? He had essentially killed the two friends he had known since he was just a kit, and she was going to gloss over it like it was nothing? He was outraged.

Idu pulled the paw covered by the vixen and slammed it down on the table. He shot a look at her, his voice clear as day as it reverberated off of the wooden walls of the tavern.

“I just let both of my friends get killed today, Kara! Both of them were killed because my head was stuck in the clouds. They would both still be alive if I hadn’t been so negligent and thought things through.”

“Idu,” the vixen sighed, resting her arms onto the table when she leaned forward in her chair, “please believe me when I say that you aren’t to blame for your friend’s deaths. If you’re going to blame anyone for killing them, then blame it on the mammal who created this place, the one who sabotaged the game in the first place: _Kayaba._ He was the one who removed the logout functionality. He was the one that changed the rules so that this world could become some glorified death game. He was the one to instill panic amongst the players. If there’s anyone here to blame for all of this, it’s him. That pussy…”

“Woah,” the lion interjected, taking mild offense to the term. “Kara!”

“What,” she said defensively, “he’s a cheetah, Nat. If anything I’m just giving that bastard his proper nickname.”

With that clarification, the lion let out a bright cackle and rolled his eyes, finally conceding to her point. “Fair enough.”

“What I’m saying is this,” she resigned herself, bringing back that warm tone that she had before, throwing the tod a smile just as bright, “don’t go around thinking about what you could or should have done. It’ll only make yourself feel worse. Instead, try and focus on the good times that you shared with your friends. Keep their memory alive. Don't give Kayaba the least bit of satisfaction.”

With a sigh the vixen stood up from the table and stretched her body out. While the lion lagged slightly behind, she gave him something to chew on as they made their way to the door.

“I hate to just leave without warning, but Guardian and I are planning to hit the next town as soon as possible before the majority of other players leave the Town of Beginnings. The fields here will be picked clean with all of the new players in the game now. Gold and experience points will be near impossible to get after that. We would be more than happy if you’d like to accompany us, but we have to leave relatively soon to beat the traffic. We’ll be leaving, say…”

She glanced up at the time at the top right of her user interface, Idu taking a peak as well through his own interface. According to the clock the time read 5:45 PM.

“...Twenty minutes from now. If you want to find us, we will be waiting by the West Gate of the town. After that window closes… well, I wish you the best of luck. Even if we don’t see you again you can always shoot me a message to check up on our progress. I hope that our paths cross again soon.”

The two predators waved goodbye and strode towards the door. Idu almost wished that they could stay for a while longer so they could keep him company. But, he shook the thought away, seeing the players’ point. In accordance to most role playing game gold and XP are hard to come by, especially in a massively multiplayer environment. Even if they came from a vast MMO background, their plan was very astute, and well thought out for a couple of new players.

Light poured in from the outside and dimly lit up the tavern with a golden hue as the door opened to the market outside. The alley seemed even more hectic than it was when the game had just opened.

Before the vixen stepped on through the doorway, she turned around and faced the tod one last time, giving him one final piece of advice.

“Remember this: we’re only mammals, Idu. Sure, we make mistakes and we learn from them, but we never let them define who we are.”

With that, the two mammals left the building, shutting the wooden door behind them. The tod was all that remained. He was all alone.

His gaze traveled downward until he caught the cup of tea that the vixen had bought for him in his sights. The drink was undoubtedly lukewarm after a long while of sitting, his pet peeve preventing him from even thinking about taking another sip. But then again, Kara did buy this drink for him. Even if they were in the starting town, she was wasting money—or kol as they called it in this world—that could have been spent on better things rather than on him of all mammals. He almost felt bad that he let it go to waste.

Moments passed him by while he sat glumly in his chair. The waiting felt as if he were stuck at his aunt’s and uncle’s place for an entire week without his video games, his laptop, or his cell phone. Only now, he was inside the video game, there were no laptops and no cell phones either. It was only him and the sword at his side, and he wasn’t fond of pulling it out of it’s sheath just to twirl it around like some little kit. Oddly enough he hated sharp objects, an irrational fear of the idea that he might cut himself. Now he was actively using one as a main weapon in an RPG.

A sigh escaped Idu’s muzzle. Without the company of his friends, the game seemed almost pointless in a way. Missing them only made the pain in his heart worse, he found. Remembering even moreso. He felt truly alone in this vast world full of wonder, excitement and charm, even if the possibility of dying loomed over the heads of everyone involved. If he were being honest with himself, the thought alone scared him. Of all the things he feared above sharp objects and even death itself, being alone took the cake as one of his greatest fears. Even back when he was still living with his parents at their old home, he and his brother shared a room together. How on earth could he manage to not go insane by the time the game got completed, especially now without the help of his friends by his side? He had no idea. Even fighting seemed pointless to him now. He didn’t want to die. Not to this world, and certainly not to this game.

Kara was right. Kayaba had effectively killed both of his friends, and for what? Some sick, twisted pleasure? Or perhaps he just wanted to see how the players would adapt? Whatever the reason, he was responsible for over two hundred player deaths now. This wasn’t some sick joke, this was murder. And even if he had a part to play in both Kadin and Satos deaths—which in his opinion he did—he had nothing on what that monster was doing to these players.

These points brought him to where he was now.

On one hand, he could very well just hold out until the other player who were actually confident in their skill in combat went out and beat the game outright. He could survive off of the basics while still learning the core mechanics of the game, plus the safety of his life would be guaranteed.

On the other hand, there was the option of taking charge and making an actual impact on the progress of finishing the game. Kayaba said it himself, all one-hundred floors needed to be cleared before they were finally free from this prison. Considering how big the scale was of this world, who knew how long it would take to finish it. It could very well take years to complete. Was he really willing to sit around for that long? At what point would he eventually have to say ‘screw it?’ However, he would be more likely to die if that were the case.

The choice was his.

Idu leaned backwards in his chair and took both choices into consideration. In the end it would all boiled down to either being alone for the remainder of the game, or making friendships and possibly dying, neither of which sounded good to him. The more he thought about each choice, the more he thought about both Sato and Kadin, and what they would have wanted him to choose. But the more he thought about them, the more it became abundantly clear to him which path they would want him to take, no matter the pain he felt.

 _If only they were here right now,_ he thought, tears beginning to well in his eyes. _they would tell me how dumb I'm acting._

His mind was made up.

 

* * *

 

 

Both vixen and lion stood patiently at the West Gate of the town, looking down the streets and alleyways in front of them for the tod they just met—or rather saved—moments ago. Players were beginning to pop up left and right now that the initial panic was starting to stave off. The window that Kara and Guardian had now was beginning to close on them. They wouldn’t have another shot at getting ahead of the initial wave of players if they didn't leave, and although she didn't want to leave the tod behind, she didn't want to be around the town when the players finally came to terms with their new home.

They questioned after the fact whether it was wise leaving him all alone with the tremendous weight of the burden that loomed like a curse over his shoulders. It pained her to know that he was blaming himself for the loss of both his friends. She couldn't fathom how he was processing all of this; the game, Kayaba’s meddling, the fear of dying in a foreign world, coupled with the realization that he may not (if not ever) see the real world ever again, it seemed like enough to drive any mammal mad.

In terms of her own sanity, she found Akihiko’s revelation to incite challenge rather than ensue panic amongst the masses, and this challenge made her giddy with excitement.

In the real world, she was an avid fan of video games that were challenging to play, mostly delving into genres such as puzzle, platform, and role-play. She loved games that put her skills to the test and challenged her to give it her all because the moment she  was able to finally push through and conquer whatever obstacle was in her way, the feeling of accomplishment was beyond compare.

No matter how high the stakes appeared to be, to her _Sword Art Online_ was just another video game. At the end of the day, video games were meant to be enjoyed. If the new rule that dying in this game meant death in both Aincrad and the real world, then so be it. It was just another hurdle to jump over.

A smile crept onto her muzzle, the grin threatening to turn into eager giggles as she tried to contain herself. She was excited to be back in the castle floating in the sky. The beta test felt as if it happened ages ago. She could remember all of the fond memories that she had during that time when she was learning the mechanics for the first time. When it concluded at the tail-end of the summer, it felt like she had lost a part of herself. Now that she was back in _SAO_ she was ready to kick some serious tail.

From a distance she noticed that the markets trailing along the main road began accumulating more foot traffic the more time they spent standing at the  eastern gates. If they stood there for much longer, their window would be gone for sure.

She glanced up at the time listed on her interface that read _5:58 PM._ Seven minutes until she and Guardian were set to head out. She crossed her arms, keeping a close eye on the mammals walking the market.

“Aren’t you antsy,” the lion quipped, nudging her shoulder. “And to think I only thought rabbits tapped their feet under stress.”

Kara loosened her focus on the market for a moment to find that her foot was indeed tapping against the brick path. She shook her head with a chuckle.

“Shut up.”

“Does it have to do with a certain fox… namely... the one we happened to save not to long ago?

The vixen rolled her eyes before lightly pushing the lion’s arm with a fist. “Shut up,” she repeated.

“Only calling it as I see it, Kara,” he smiled. “Nothing against you, but it’s kinda fun to mess around with you every now and again.”

“Hot.”

The lion let out a booming laugh, the vixen maintaining a devilishly smug look on her face as he tried not to show how flustered he was. “Not like that, you perv! Of course you would go there.”

“You should know me by now, Natsu. Besides, you said it not me.”

“Whatever,” the lion rolled his eyes, mimicking the vixen before giving her a sly smirk.

Kara looked back out toward the market, Guardian coming over to the right of her to join her watch. They scanned the faces of the mammals walking through, finding an assortment of different species—red pandas, foxes, rabbits, sheep, ram, even a few cheetahs thrown into the mix—but couldn’t spot the tod that they saved amongst them. How hard was it to find a black furred fox with brown eyes and a white tip on the end of his tail that wore a maroon colored shirt and light grey trousers?

“...”

The fact that she remembered that much about Idu surprised her a little bit, and made the little self-confident note in her brain all the more welcoming. She was normally terrible at remembering mammals...

“You think he’s going to join us?”

Kara shrugged. “I could see him leaving or joining us. He’s been through a lot so far. The game has only been live for five hours and he’s already lost everything. It’s hard enough living with that while trying not to die yourself. Although, who knows? Maybe he wants to keep fighting? Of course that means we’re going to have to teach him the basics. He’s a noob. We’re lucky to both be from the beta, otherwise the speed of our progression could suffer. But, who knows? We’ll just have to wait and see what he chooses. He still has four minutes.”

“We do indeed. Still, it’d be a shame to not have him around. If he sounds as serious as he did back at the tavern, he might actually grow into a strong player. Besides, he’s actually kind of cute.”

Her muzzle and ears flushed with crimson as she looked away from her partner. “Of course you would go there,” she shot back at him.

“What? I’m just saying that fox is the epitome of adorable. Come on, you have to agree with me here.”

“You’re lucky I don’t just leave you here in the Town of Beginnings.”

“Leave me? Oh, come on now I know you wouldn’t do that, Kara. You’d miss me too much.”

“Try me, you big ol’ dork. It’ll be just like the way I left you back at Karluin in the beta. I bet that Tiger still has nightmares about you trying to swoon him over.”

“He was the one to hit on me first!

“Sure he was. This is just like what happened with Usagi back at uni.”

“Hey, that was one time—

_“Ahem.”_

The two predators conversation was cut short by the sound of the cleansing of one’s throat. Both vixen and lion turned towards the sound to see a familiar tod standing in front of them. Noticeably, his head was turned away, his muzzle and ears flush with red as he tried to regain his composure.

“Well it looks like we have our answer,” the lion was the first to say.

Kara stepped up to him and gave him a grin. “So, have you decided?”

For a moment the fox remained silent, looking as if he was trying to find the right words to say until he eventually managed to find them.

“I don’t agree with you,” he mumbled, “I feel… no, I _know_ I’m partly responsible for the death of Kadin and Sato, and I just can’t get over that. However, I do agree that Kayaba played a part in this too. He was the one who orchestrated this entire farce of a video game and put the lives of ten thousand mammals at risk. Something like that just pisses me off to no end.”

The tod’s head raised as he stood up straight, his chest puffed out while he stared the two of them down. He was shaking.

“I want to fight. I can’t just sit idly by in the Town of Beginnings and do nothing. That won’t do me any bit of good. No, I want to get out of here as fast as possible, that way when I get out of this game I can find and beat the shit out of the fucker who put us in here in the first place. Maybe then my friends can rest in peace, or at least be able to live with myself.”

To that, Kara simply chuckled. He was adamant on taking charge of his destiny, and maintaining the memory of his fallen friends. Even if he was scared to death, he was willing to face the challenges that lie ahead. He had much to learn, but this was a great start for the tod.

The vixen pulled open her menu and navigated to the tab that managed her parties, pulling up the one she and Guardian were currently in. After a few taps, she pressed an accept button after clarifying a couple of details, and sent the invite over to the other fox. The invite immediately popped up for Idu in the form of an audible ring. He opened up his own menu and stared at the party invite, waiting a moment before pressing the accept button.

Kara waited patiently for her party’s player list to update, seeing Idu’s name show under Guardian’s only a half a second after. She closed out her menu and placed a paw on her hip. Looking at the new player before her brought her great joy. She got to don her teacher's cap, a rare occurrence for a usual solo player like herself. This was going to be fun.

“Welcome to the party, Idu,” she smirked at the fox.


	4. Blade of Hope

 

Idu stared down the enemy boar in front of him with an intense focus, his sword level with the eyes of his target in the usual stance he held before going into combat. His paws gripped the hilt of his sword while he took in the boars rough features—it's ragged and rusted armor, the tears in his clothing, the broken off horn, the simple sword in its hooves, and finally its insignia that clearly aligned him with a nearby mercenary group. This hostile NPC was one of many that normally spawned in the area so it didn't take much to assume that this was just a normal enemy which meant that he had the same weaknesses of all the others that Idu had fought before him.

The fox held his breath. He was going to nail his movements this time. He already got the chance to memorize all the basic moves thanks to the countless training sessions Kara supplied, all it came down to was speed, timing, and accuracy.

Speaking of the vixen, she and the lion known as Guardian had found a Safe location to watch the fight from a distance without the fear of the boar attacking them instead of the tod. Not only did he need the experience on the technical know-how on the fighting system and how it worked, but his leveling was also starting to fall behind. With two beta testers in your party, keeping up with them proved to be difficult and challenging to someone new to the game. Even the basic moves such as slashes, verticals, and horizontals proved to be fairly difficult to grasp. However, it wasn't an impossible feat. He was managing to trail slightly behind in terms of experience points, and they had only just reached level five, so by that nature he was just about to reach that threshold himself. Idu was lucky that he was a fast learner otherwise he'd be doomed to traverse the floor as just another newbie.

From what he remembered from Kara's training sessions, the intricacy of the sword skills themselves fascinated him. On top of the usual progression that usual RPGs contain there was also was an intricate combo system built on top of it similar to that of fighting games. Naturally with virtual reality titles a game developer couldn't just get away with normal weapon progression, since titles such as Sword Art Online also had the physical aspect to work around. That left players with a sword skill system that not only was simple but complex in terms of mastering the elements of time, speed, and accuracy of the moves.

Any of these sword skills activated by the player goes through three distinct phases. The first phase was the ‘pre-motion.’ Although the exact starting motion varies from move to move, this initial movement first gets recognized by the system and begins to activate the skill, making the sword glow in a color specific to the move being activated. Once the initial move is recognized the system takes over and completes the skill. After that comes the ‘post-motion,’ which essentially stiffens the player for a short period of time, making them vulnerable to possible counter attacks. Lastly is ‘cooling,’ or the cooldown of the skill. The specific skill then goes into a cooldown period and cannot be used during this time, but other sword skills can be used. As the player progresses further in their weapon’s skill set the speed of the skills themselves increase and the cool-down times shorten, making it easier for the player to fight in combat.

All of these factors and more were being quickly calculated in Idu’s head as he pulled every detail from his environment and training sessions prior. Although, it was just a low level boar. It wasn't like these enemies changed their strategies all that often. They were still on the first floor. In terms of attacks from the mercenary boats, they would be tempted to either begin their fight with a straight up headbut, following the attack with a quick swipe of his sword if he hadn't been attacked before then. If Idu attacked, then the boar would attempt to counter, which failed for the most part, then go for a vertical swipe. Idu felt he could take these guys easily.

Making the first move against these boars was usually the best strategy since their charges although low in power, was enough to stun him and allow the enemy to get a good swing in, which would result in a quarter of his life being taken away. He wasn’t to worried about that detail, however. Stored in the pouch on his utility belt were a few spare potions that he’d collected since the Town of Beginnings. Even if the worst-case scenario came to fruition he'd be prepared to heal himself and make a hasty retreat. But no matter what sort of precaution he had in place, the move that would benefit him the most would be to make the first move, and he was confident that he would be able to do it.

Idu’s legs began moving on their own, his sword as he charged towards the enemy. The boar snarled and braced himself for the incoming attack, taking a defensive stance.

The fox took the sword into his right paw and held the sword above his shoulder. The sword then began glowing a bright blue as the system recognized the pre-motion for the sword skill ‘slant.’ He waited until he was around a sword length away before he finally put his prepared skill into motion, allowing the system to take over as the blade swiped from the top-right to the bottom left.

_Clang!_

Finishing the skill left Idu’s sword clashing with the boar’s, sending sparks flying into the air where the metal made contact. Out of the corner of his eye he saw the health gauge of the boar shoot down thirty or so points. The powerful hit also made the enemy falter a step, forcing the boar to take a step back and attempt to recover. Meanwhile the skill made the fox’s shoulders and arms stiffen in accordance to the post-motion of his ‘slant’ skill. However, he mustn't slow down and stop there.

As Kara told him before when he was learning the skills, the beginning of any attack during the post-motion and the recovery of the player and the stiffness they felt afterwards was the most challenging thing to learn for a player. These were the two things he needed work on the most. So far, it seemed that his attack was spot on. He hoped to continue to show his prowess and defeat this enemy without the help of his party members.

Once Idu felt the post-motion end and full control was once again his, he continued rushing back towards the enemy mammal to prepare his next attack. His ‘slant’ skill was now on a cooldown period, so that meant that he would have to use another one.

The tod brought the sword up to his right shoulder again and let the game recognize the motion, allowing the blade to glow a bright blue. He saw the boar prepare the same block as he had before when the fox was only a couple of steps away, giving him the perfect opportunity to strike with another sword skill, the ‘vertical.’

“...!”

Idu felt the system assist him complete the move as the blade swept downward, catching the low level mammal off guard as the attack left the boar with a large streak of red tailing from his left shoulder to his right hip. The hit took a massive chunk out of his health, bringing his remaining health down to nearly ten percent.

But, he wasn't satisfied. As soon as he made the move he regretted the trajectory, and because he was guided by the system, he wasn't able to adjust. If he had gone for the head instead of the mobs shoulder, there was a good chance that his attack could have finished him off for good. In the end, he just let the gripe roll off his shoulders. The battle wasn't finished yet.

With a sharp sigh he felt his body loosen up from the ‘vertical,’ not allowing himself to waste the opportunity of the boar being stunned to take a small step back, creating some distance between the two of them. Similarly the enemy boar took his chance and stepped forward, bringing it’s sword from Idu’s top left to the bottom right, the NPC’s skilless version of a ‘slant’. The fox brought his sword up to block the attack.

_Ding!_

The sharp metallic clash of their blades filled the air around them, the pestilent burst of sharp sound causing the tod’s face to wince in disgust. He didn’t let the sound deter him though, because in front of him was an opening for another chance to attack, clear as day. This next attack would take care of the merc for sure, and he wouldn't even need another skill to do it.

The tod raised the sword in his right hand and readied his attack, letting out a final wale before the sword came down to meet the boar’s leather chest plate.

“ _Rrrrwaaaaaah!”_

Idu’s blade sunk deep in the boar’s ribcage, the area surrounding the wound glowing a bright shade of red. The remaining hit points still present in the enemy’s health gauge floating in front of him quickly began draining until nothing remained.

Idu pulled his blade out of the mammal and watched him limply fall to the ground. A couple moments later his dead body exploded into a million blue polygonal shards, returning the field to as it once was before their fight. The usual congratulatory after-fight report popped up in front of him, listing the various gold, gained experience, and any items that might’ve been dropped. With the regular amount of gold earned for the kill, the new experience points added to his newly obtained level five stature, and a small silver pocket watch with flower engravings that added +2 STG to his overall strength stat, he equipped the item and closed out the menu, sheathing the sword in paw back in it’s holder on his left side.

“Nicely done,” came the familiar voice of Kara behind him.

Idu turned to meet both lion and vixen, the corner of his mouth raising slightly to the complement. “Thanks,” he said bashfully.

Both Guardian’s and Kara’s footsteps audibly brushed the grass around their feet as they stepped down from the hill they were watching from. The vixen wasted no time in donning her teacher attitude, making absolutely certain to point out the errors that had occurred during his fight.

“You still need work on timing your attacks correctly. Having the skill charged up like that during the pre-motion doesn't do anything in terms of power, and it only gives the enemies time to see what you're going to do, so work on only entering that phase until you get close.”

“Roger that.”

“Other than timing, the fight was pretty solid.” Kara formed her paw into a fist and held it mid level towards Idu. “Good work.”

The tod grinned and returned the favor by bumping her fist. “Thanks.”

“Now that Idu’s fight’s over,” Guardian’s voice piped up, “Can we get some food now? I haven't eaten since noon and I'm starving.”

The vixen threw him a sly grin. Idu rolled his eyes. He already knew where this was heading.

“I don't know Guardian, I'm feeling a bit light on quests at the moment, maybe we should start up another one just for fun.”

Guardian clasped his paws together

“Come on Kara, I've waited like a good little lion all afternoon for a good meal. You wouldn't deny anyone with this kind of face…”

The lion proceeded to clasp his paw together and flash the vixen with some fairly convincing puppy dog eyes, begging desperately for the outcome he wanted. Except, she was able to read into him like a book.

“I hear that this quest in Horunka offers a fair bit of gold for bringing this old couple some ruby necklace. What do you think, Idu? Should we take it on today?”

Idu decided to answer honestly… and jump in on the fun. “Perhaps, but I still have to turn in this quest that I just finished back at Tolbana.”

The lion got on his knees and pleaded, “Please! We've been fighting all day. I can't take anymore! I-I'll buy the food, just let me eat!”

The vixen cunningly smirked. “Now you're speaking my language. Thanks Guard, you're the best!”

With a small skip she took the lead towards the town closest to their location, the one they could just barely see in the distance, Tolbana. The lion sunk his head and dropped to his knees. He let out a sigh while the tod smirked. “She’s going to order the most expensive thing on the menu, isn’t she?”

The fox placed a paw on Guardian’s shoulder. “Would you expect anything less? She’s the epitome of extra, and the queen of sass.”

“I can physically feel my wallet burning right now.”

“Well, if I’m being honest, you did do this to yourself.

A sharp stare from the lion’s blue eyes pierced him like daggers, the fox backing off with a laugh as he took a few steps towards the sword and shield user.

“Well, I guess I should get back with Kara now. I swear, I’ll only order the second most expensive item on the menu if it’ll make you feel any better.”

“It doesn’t.”

“Not my problem,” the tod smirked. He turned his back to his comrade, a wave goodbye accompanying his leave as he began quickly running to his teacher. His voice echoed through the fields, “Thanks for the meal, Guardian!”

A loud curse was the only reply Idu could pick up on as he got further and further away from his friend. He clearly needed the time to grieve over the loss of his Kol, which would cost him an upgrade on his newly acquired battle-axe. Eventually he did manage to catch up with both Idu and Kara, except now he kept his muzzle shut, more than likely in fear of facing retaliation from the vixen again. Idu didn’t blame him either, he wouldn’t dare to if he got caught in that situation.

Their small three mammal band continued to traverse the footpath leading to their next destination, the town of Tolbana.

Tolbana was the second largest town on the first floor, known for its windmill towers, many fountains, and castle wall that encircled it similarly to the Town of Beginnings. The city stretched two hundred meters wide from edge to edge and was located inside a valley. Inside the town, there were a handful of inns to house traveling players, just as many bars and restaurants, and a plethora of NPC housing. The town even housed an old amphitheatre in the center of town just outside of the main plaza where NPCs put on performances, players could have small meetings, and where players come to take a load off and sleep if they didn’t have enough money for an inn.

Even with it’s size, the town was fairly quiet compared to that of the Town of Beginnings and Horunka, which housed a decent amount of players who had slowly warmed up to the idea of traveling the floor and seeing what the world had to offer, besides death that is. Perhaps the reasoning for why the town was so quiet in the first place was that players had only reached it three weeks after Kayaba had made his shocking announcement to all players in the game? Since then, a staggering count of one-thousand five-hundred players had died. Players were starting to lose hope that they would ever leave this game.

However, one of the other notable things about the city of Tolbana was that the large pillar that connected both the first and second floors together was right next to the town. From what he could gather, inside that pillar was none other than the final boss for this floor—their ticket for progressing further in the game, and one step closer to the famed Ruby Palace on the one-hundredth floor. Only then would he be able to avenge his friends.

As of right now, a couple days after the town was reached, players were either beginning to near the labyrinth or had already begun scouting the place for the boss's lair. The sooner that the players found the boss room, the closer that brought them to the completion of the game. Kara made it clear that once Idu was in fighting shape they all would join in scouting the labyrinth, and Idu wholeheartedly agreed.

Time was of the essence. Mammals lives were at stake, and the quicker Idu was at picking up these mechanics, learning how they worked, and mastering them, the faster he, Kara, and Guardian could support the other players in the fight of clearing the game. He still needed work on fights that involved more than one opponent, team strategies, and the timing of his skills.

The moment he would be thrust into this role he would have to be ready. In terms of what was happening right there and now, besides completing this quest and claiming his reward, was a time to take a load off and rest. Dinner was calling his name.

 

* * *

 

 

Idu sat opposite of both Kara and Guardian while they waited for their meals to arrive. The vixen wore this sly, smug grin that showed clear as day how much she was enjoying the situation. Guardian on the other hand wasn’t too happy with how the night was turning out. Like she had told him back at the fields, she had kept her word and ordered the most expensive item in the Flywheel Inn—a rare stew that costed the lion a staggering five-hundred Kol. Although the tod was tempted to go for the second most expensive meal on the menu, in the end he went with his usual fish, which only cost around one-hundred twenty Kol.

He wondered why exactly Guardian let her go through with a heinous decision that would cost him an unnecessary amount of money. He could have spent the better part of that Kol on weapon upgrades for his newly aquired battle-axe. Why didn’t he stop her?

The more he thought about the two of them, he recalled the kind of connection the two of them seemed to share. There was no doubt that they were close, and held some kind of connection since the beta, or maybe even beyond. He wanted to assume that they were just extremely close friends outside of the game, but he had this strange feeling that they could be more than that. Idu had nothing against those kinds of couples, he had other friends on the other side where they were in a relationship as both predator and prey. But why did it seem… off for them to be in a relationship—

“Hello.”

The wolf waitress had reappeared in front of the trio again with a smile on her muzzle, cutting off the tod’s train of thought. Expertly resting on her arm and in both of her paws were two plates and a bowl of piping hot food ready to be consumed by their eager customers.

Itzuki gave the NPC a smile as she set each plate down by their respective spots at the table, then gave the group a bow.

“Please, enjoy.”

“Thank you,” the tod said, uncaring if his words rached deaf ears.

The wolf quickly made herself scarce and focused on the next table, leaving the three of them to enjoy their food and drink. After giving thanks to the food presented to them each of them dug happily into their food. Well, nearly everyone in that case.

With each and every bite Kara took of her stew, the more Guardian died a little bit on the inside. It was quite comical to see in a way. Even if he felt bad, Idu couldn’t help but chuckle at each and every wince the poor lion made. He hoped that he could at least replenish the lost of Kol in time for the moment they hit the labyrinth. But, who knew how long that would take.

Idu shook the thought away. Instead of worrying about things such as the state of his skill level, he should take a load off and try and relax. It was dinner time and he had a nice hot meal sitting in front of him that he realized that he still hadn’t touched. Needless to say he dug straight in.

After the three of them finished their meals and their plates were cleared they went ahead and ordered another round of drinks. They sat in their chairs in silence for a bit as they relished in the food they had eaten, taking in the ambient sounds of the village music. Eventually, the vixen had let out a sigh then crossed her arms, her voice filling the still air with sound.

“I think I would like us to tackle the labyrinth tomorrow.”

Shock filled the tod’s face. What? He still had a ways to go before he was ready. He still hadn’t mastered the sword skills yet, and he wasn’t remotely fast enough yet. Was she serious?

“A-are you sure that I’m—”

“I know you’re ready for this, Idu.” She shot him a smile and pulled her paw into a fist. “Yeah, I’m positive. I know that you’ll be able to pull your own in the labyrinth, plus I know that I can trust you with my life, so you don’t need to worry. You’ll do just fine.”

“But,” Idu flusteredly pleaded, “I’ve got some things to work on still! I’m still not fast enough on my skills yet, and I’m not to good when it comes to group fights. The last thing I want to do is hold you guys back!”

“How do you think you’re going to improve those skills, huh Idu?” Although he was skeptical, he continued listening, hoping to hear the reasoning behind this quick decision. “In terms of your speed and the way you fight, you’re more than ready to take on something like the boss’s dungeon compared to the mammals we met in the last town. And in terms of fighting in a group and using teamwork, we can solve that really quick by starting there. If I’m being honest, we haven’t exactly fought as a team yet, but once we start, I’m sure we can play into each other’s strengths. I know it.”

“Look at you being optimistic,” The lion crossed his arms, a minute grin appearing from his straight face.

“I try my best,” she said, sending a wink Guardians way, causing the axe-wielder to roll his eyes. Both he and Idu rolled their eyes. A blush ran on the tod’s muzzle. Another piece of evidence to add to the growing pile for Kara and Guardian being a couple.

“S-so you’re serious then,” Idu tried to take in, “We’re going to scout for the first floor boss?”

“That’s right!” She confirmed. “Get ready, because tomorrow’s the day where we finally make an impact!”

“Woo-hoo,” the lion replied unenthusiastically, pumping his fist into the air.

“Just be ready to fight as hard as you can tomorrow. We’re in for one hell of a ride. Oh, and be sure to stock as many potions as you can. Taking damage won’t even be a question when we enter the labyrinth so be prepared.”

Was he really ready to take on something like this? The labyrinths minions were nothing to joke about… or so he thought. Wouldn’t the enemies be either equal or higher level than level five? That would mean that they would be fighting on equal ground. And if there were multiple minions to fight at a single time, he would certainly be at a disadvantage.

Idu took a breath and cleared his mind. Kara wouldn’t blindly throw him into combat if she knew that they wouldn’t win. She and Guardian were beta testers after all. If he could count on anyone, it would be them. His friends. Just as she trusted him with his life, Idu was certain that he could trust the two of them all the same.

“Hey, Idu,” Kara asked, bringing his attention away from his thoughts and back to her. “Didn’t you have a quest to complete?”

Idu blinked. “Oh yeah,” he remembered, a bashful chuckle escaping his throat. “I totally forgot!”

 

* * *

 

 

“Thank you for clearing the fields of those wretched bandits, I hope now no one will have to worry about getting robbed or—the maker forbid—killed on the side of the road anymore.”

Idu gave the elderly rabbit dressed in medieval clothing a smile, shooting him a kind reply. “It was nothing, sir. We were happy to help.”

“Please, take this gold as payment for your trouble.” The old bunny dug a small pouch of gold out of his back pocket and handed it to Idu, the action prompting a ‘quest completion’ message to pop up in front of him, listing the experience he gained from completing the quest and the reward he received—one-hundred Kol, and a few health potions to boot. Kara was right, this quest was worth the trouble. He was only three-fourths away from reaching the next level.

For a while, passive non-playable characters filled the tod with a lot of anxiety, and still do in some cases such as now. He had to hand it to Kayaba and the mammals at Argus, the dialogue that these characters had were almost incredibly solid. Although the player had to use specific keywords and phrases to initiate quests and get information, banter between NPCs wasn’t terrible by any means. In fact, in cases it was better than a fair number of video games that were in the market today.

“Come on Idu,” Kara called to him, the tod turning to see her waving at him, “let’s get back to the Inn to get some sleep! We have to get up early tomorrow—”

“Wait…”

The interruption caught the three players off guard, Idu turning back to see rabbit moving closer to him with his paw out, pointing at the silver chain attached to one of Idu’s belt loops.

“Is… is that a pocket watch you’ve got there?”

Th tod raised a brow, “Yes?”

“Please, could I take a look at it? If you don’t mind, that is.”

Idu looked at the character curiously. Was he interested in the pocket watch he received from the monster he killed earlier? Why would a simple NPC be interested in an item like that? The emotion he had on his face, the orientation of the rabbits ears, he almost seemed to act like any normal mammal. He looked as if he held some kind of hope.

Was it worth it to give such an item to just another quest giver like the elderly rabbit before him? What if the rabbit were to steal the item outright? There were so many flags going off in his head, he didn’t know what to do.

Eventually, Idu shrugged his shoulders and succumbed to the request, stoking the fire that was his curiosity. Who knows, perhaps this could lead somewhere important? At least, that was the thought process that was running through his head.

“S-sure.”

The tod dug the pocket watch out of his front pants pocket and disconnected the chain, balling it up into his paw. He handed the item over to the rabbit, the metal watch falling backside up into the prey’s smaller paw, almost matching the exact size for a mammal his size. The NPC hadn’t run away yet, so he assumed that the character’s intentions were true, but that wasn’t much to go on. He watched the rabbit closely.

The smaller prey mammal flipped the pocket watch over, seeing the flower pattern engraved into the front of the silver. At that moment, the tod witnessed something he never expected from a video game before.

The rabbits ears fell to his back completely, his eyes growing wide as he stared at the item in his paws. His legs began to shake as tears began to well in his eyes. Sniffles sounded from his nose and his posture became slouched, pulling the watch deep into his chest. He fell to the ground, the tod rushing over to his aid as he placed a paw on the rabbit’s shoulder.

“T-thank the maker,” he mumbled quietly to himself, “It’s come back to me.”

Idu didn’t know what to do exactly, he didn’t know what to think. But, instead of just remaining silent, he searched for the reasoning why the rabbit was acting this way.

“What’s wrong, sir? Are you okay?”

“Y-you…,” he sobbed, looking up to him with a relieved grin on his snout, “you brought my family back to me.”

The predator’s ears fell back as he finally realized what he had done. The rabbit opened up the pocket watch to reveal a dazzling interior, the hands of the device taking the form of small, thin leaves, and the gears clearly showing the functionality of the mechanism inside. However, that wasn’t all that was present. Inside showed a picture of a family, a husband, a wife, and a smiling daughter present as if they were the happiest mammals alive. The one holding the pocket watch was none other than the husband, who was now staining the glass and metal of the watch with his digital tears.

Before he knew it, the rabbit began speaking again, which brought Idu a little bit more understanding as to why he was acting the way he was.

“Years ago, when I was still a spry young farmer I had a beautiful wife, and an energetic, loving little girl. We sold our crop and produce to the neighboring towns as a decent price, and we were happy as could be. But, one day, when we were taking our goods outside the city limits, we were ambushed by a group of mercenaries who attacked and pillaged us. They… they burned everything. They killed my wife and they slaughtered my only daughter… I just managed to escape from their clutches. Only afterward did I realize that while I was attempting to make my escape, I had mistakenly lost the gift I received on the tenth anniversary of me and my wife’s wedding. It had been years since the incident, I had even sold my farm as a result. That pocket watch was the only reminder I had left of my family. I felt helpless. I honestly thought I would never see it again.”

Idu couldn’t believe it. Never before had he seen so much depth to a character in this world. Now, he was shedding tears himself as he felt for this character, this... rabbit.

The rabbit looked up to him with a smile, “But now, you’ve brought it back to me. More importantly, you brought my family back to me. Thank you. Thank you so much.”

The tod hesitated, but managed to give the rabbit a smile of his own as he struggled to keep his composure, “It was nothing. I’m glad to have brought the watch back to you.”

“And I am extremely grateful.” He let out a sigh and held his hand out in front of both him and the fox, materializing an item from what Idu could guess to be the rabbit’s inventory. When it materialized fully, the item seemed to be a weapon, thinner than a short sword and a sharp tip at the top of the blade. The hilt of the weapon was decorated with a green gem and steel pedals, nearly identical to the design on the pocket watch.

“Please, I know it might not seem like much, but I have something to trade. It’s least that I can do for all you’ve done. This sword was once the weapon I tried to use to protect my family, and now I can’t even stand to look at it. I can’t fight the way I used to, and I’d rather leave it in the hands of someone as skilled as you. Please, accept this offer. Again, it’s the least I can do.”

“I…” the tod hesitated, his paws ready to take the gift from the elderly rabbit, but pulled back at the last second. He shot a questioning look at the prey animal, “are you sure you want to give me this?”

“Absolutely.”

Idu looked back at the sword and stared at it for a moment. This NPC… no this rabbit trusted him. He _believed_ in him. Who was he to say otherwise? The fox took the weapon in both his paws and took in the beauty of the craftsmanship before him. It’s name was Calgerie’s Blade. It was very light, but felt very well made for a rapier. Not only that, but it was just long enough to be comfortable for the fox without feeling like he was holding a large metal stick, but short enough to feel like he could do some damage. Honestly, he loved every bit of it.

“Would you like to give it a few test swings?”

The tod immediately nodded his head. Both the rabbit and the fox stood back up from the ground as Idu took the blade into his right paw. He took a few steps forward.

Once again, he took in the beauty of the weapon. Whoever forged this weapon had to have sold it for a very high price. He brought the sword central to his body. His left paw came to his back, his eyes honed in on the space in front of him. A slow inhale and exhale brought him down to a calm state.

“...!”

The blade quickly began to move, a couple quick swipes and a few stabs piercing the air around the tip of the blade. With each and every move the tod made the air around the blade created a sharp and smooth _whooshing_ sound, something pleasant to the fox’s ears. He felt the power in each and every slice and strike he made, it felt natural unlike the one-handed sword he had currently. He truly loved this weapon.

When he was finished testing it out, he turned back to the rabbit with a smile.

“It’s perfect.”

“I’m glad. It suits you.”

Idu quickly brought his menu up and changed some things around in his equipment, making sure the sheath of his new sword of choice was present on the left side of his body. Once he was situated, the tod bowed to the elderly rabbit in thanks, making sure as to also gratefully voicing the gesture as well.

“Thank you, sir. I’ll do you proud with this blade. You have my word.”

“Please, you’ve done more than enough, warrior.” The rabbit bowed, the chain from the pocket watch stuffed away in his pocket dangling from the belt loop on his own pants. “Take care.”

“To you as well.”

Idu rushed back to both the vixen and lion who were waiting patiently for him. Kara noticeably had tears in her eyes while the lion held a proud looking smile as he put a paw on the tod’s shoulder.

“That was really touching, Idu,” Guardian spoke. “I’m glad that you brought that rabbit some peace.”

“Yeah, that was... amazing,” Kara spoke low.

“It really was.”

Idu nodded in agreement. Although he was certain that this game was still like any other RPG on the market today, something about what had transpired with

The three of them headed back to the center of town and the Flywheel Inn, where they would enjoy a great night’s rest. Come tomorrow morning, they would be fully immersed into trying to get to the boss’s lair, which they would most certainly have to be at the top of their game for. Idu could feel it. He was ready. He was ready to take on this game, and finally begin to avenge those he had lost, and he was going to use this blade, Calgerie’s Blade, to do it.

When the three of them returned to the Inn, they headed straight to their rooms with as little as a ‘goodnight,’ Idu included.

Once he was inside the safety of his Inn room, the tod pulled open his menu and navigated to the skills. Looking through the different names, he almost immediately recognized the different skills presented to him. Although there weren't as many skills as he had hoped for the weapon, he felt quite alright with it. He had to assume that it was because there wasn't really a blade to the weapon. But that didn't concern him at all. All that it meant was that there wasn't as much to learn as he feared, and that brought him a little bit of relief.

There were two skills in particular that caught his eye the most. They happened to be the basic skills of the rapier, ‘linear,’ and ‘streak,’ the strike and slice motions of the blade respectively. Those were the skills that he would focus on. If he wanted to use the blade tomorrow during their scouting, he needed to learn these skills, and that meant spending the remainder of the night practicing.

“Let's get started,” he uttered to no one in particular, pulling the blade out of its thin sheath.

 

* * *

 

 

The lion emerged from the comfort of his den with a yawn, making sure to close the door tight behind him as he trudged down the hallway. Although he was half asleep, he wasn't going to give Kara even the slightest leeway to mess around with him. He just wasn't in the mood tonight.

Ever since the game started his sleep schedule has suffered, and he could feel it affecting the way he fought on in battle. He knew for a fact that Kara was going to spring the three of them straight into the boss’s lair, that was just the way she did things, but were they actually ready for a challenge like this?

The lion shook his head. They were ready. Kara wouldn't blindly throw them into a situation where she would put both of their lives at risk… okay, maybe not him, but she absolutely wouldn't put Idu’s life at risk for something as dangerous as this. He had to trust her. That's what she would have done with him if he were calling the shots. He knew he could trust her. There was a reason his name was Guardian after all.

He stepped down the stairs leading up to the Inn rooms above and entered the space of the restaurant and bar, the hospitality of the non-player staff greeting him as he looked around for a spot to sit. He could use a drink right now, even if the alcohol seemed to be entirely absent from the game, which he had to assume was because of the chance of little children or teenagers getting their paws on the game. Argus would've probably been sued for sure if they included that factor into the game, but then again Kayaba did change up the rules a bit. If there actually were children present in this game…

A shiver ran the lions spine. He cast the thought away from his head. He didn't want to imagine the thought.

He took a look around the room for a place to sit, eyeing the bar and the cute wolf bartender who was shining a glass beer mug. Also at the bar was a familiar caramel colored fox, or a vixen to be precise, her paw wrapped around the handle of a beer mug. Her ears were flat against the back of her head, and her back was hunched from leaning against the top of the bar. A sigh escaped the lion's muzzle. Even with the absence of alcohol, she still found some way to bring one of her darker sides into _Sword Art Online_. Guardian slowly stepped through the dining area and towards the bar, noticing a sigh billow from the depths of her lungs before she chugged the remained of whatever was in that drink.

“Another,” she said in a low voice.

“I'll take one too,” the lion said to the bartender, taking the open seat next to her.

Within the matter of seconds two mugs of beer found their way in front of both Guardian and Kara, the vixen not so much as looking at him before speaking her mind.

“Aren't you supposed to be asleep?”

“Aren't you?”

“Good point,” she spoke softly. She raised her mug. “To… to…”

“To life.”

“...To life.”

Their mugs clanked together, a little bit of the drink spilling onto the floor before they both took a drink of the beer in their mugs. It was a hard taste, that of dark liquor and a hint of cinnamon, almost like some whisky he favored. He made sure to voice his opinion to acknowledge the great choice in drink.

“That's pretty good.”

“I thought something familiar might be refreshing. It's a blend of dragonroot and elderberries, tastes just like hard cider and cinnamon whisky. Though, it has nothing on Fireball, but it's decent enough to not make me want to gag.”

“ _B_ _erry_ true.”

The vixen rolled her eyes. “Ugh, that was so bad. I don't know what else I could've expected from the pun king.”

“Happy to oblige, queen of sass.” he grinned.

Guardian stared blankly at the table a moment while he waited patiently for his friend. Call it intuition, but he could tell something was on Kara’s mind. One look at her was all it took to figure it out. Her ears were low, and that optimistic smile she wore like a charm had magically disappeared, this melancholy atmosphere around herself taking it’s place like a phantom. He didn’t wish to be correct about this assumption, but he couldn't help but wonder if how she was feeling had anything to do with the rabbit from earlier. His backstory was similar to what the vixen had faced eight years ago, give or take a few details. Did something about what he described trigger something in Kara?

His blue eyes slowly moved to bring the vixen back into view, looking at her hardened, saddened expression. The more he thought about it, the more he realized how far he was looking into the situation. She could be worried about scouting for the boss’s lair now that Idu was finally getting involved with actual life threatening battles. He didn’t have proper experience fighting in a group or a party and lacked the proper know-how for team fights in general. She being afraid that the tod may or may not die tomorrow was weighing heavily on her conscious.

Though, without a single word being spoken between the both of them, it was hard to determine what was wrong with her. It bugged him to know that she was hurting and he couldn’t help her. What kind of brother was he?

When their beat of silence went on too long for comfort the lion went ahead and took another swig of the drink in his drink, closing his eyes as the spicy flavor blessed his digital tastebuds.

“Do… do you think I made the right choice, forcing Idu to scout with us in the labyrinth?”

He put a paw on her back, giving her a grin, “I think that he’ll be fine. As you said yourself, he’s more than ready for this, Kara. He’s had the best teacher in all of Aincrad show him the ropes, and he’s going to excel. Trust in him.”

The vixen sat in her bar stool in silence. He hoped that she would take his words to heart. She did all that she could with Idu, and he showed more than enough that he was ready for this. He trusted him, and he trusted Kara for making the right choice. A sigh blew out his nostrils as he looked down at the inside of his beer, eventually lifting the mug off of the bar top for another drink…

...That was until her caramel colored paw slowly maneuvered itself inside the lion’s, clasping itself so that she was holding his hand. Guardian stared at the sullen fox as her other free paw formed a fist. Although she was still visibly upset with whatever was going on inside her head, he seemed to have alleviated some of the pressure that she had built up in her head.

“I’ve got your back, Supergirl,” he attempted to sooth, “Whenever you need to talk, I’ll be right here to help you.”

“...Thank you....”

“Anytime, sis.”


	5. Party’s Quarrel

 Dungeons in typical RPGs are as simple as they come. Usually, they are places to explore once the regular monsters in the wilderness have expended their usefulness and don't give as much experience and loot. This way players get to progress further with their character and they get the added bonus of getting the proper experience, gold, and items they need (or want). And if players were lucky, the end of the dungeon held a unique item or a plethora of other treasures for the player to revel in, typically guarded by a low-level or mid-level boss.

 _Sword Art Online_ wasn't any different from that algorithm. On the floors—or at least the first floor from what Idu could see—dungeons, caves, and various different places that higher level enemies lurked to guard precious loot were riddled throughout the floor. In them, they held a variety of challenges for the player to overcome. While spelunking in the dungeons, players would have to navigate through a series of rooms and puzzles to get to the end, which more than likely held treasure, a low-level boss—since the floors themselves usually held the mid-level bosses for big group fights—or sometimes both. Caves were similar to dungeons in that you had to navigate and travel through the area to find smaller troves of gold and items, but never really held any bosses or high end treasure. They were mainly used for ‘clear’ quests, but sometimes they held weaker low-level bosses. Then there was other miscellaneous fights or raids, usually involving other quests that provided just enough reward or little at all, that filled the remainder of the floor with something to do.

Kara and Guardian had the luxury of delving through a dungeon outside of Horunka when they were still teaching Idu the ropes. This spot was also where they first tested out their skills as a team. Tucked away near the inside of a nearby cave, the entrance of the dungeon was guarded by a couple of monsters known as kobolds. Between the three of them, Kara and Guardian dispatched them fairly easily. Idu sat on the defensive, dealing damage to the enemies and allowing his friends to switch and take care of the monsters, following this tactic all the way to the final boss. It wasn’t quite the spectacle in terms of how they worked together as a team, and it wasn't the most comfortable for the tod, but it wasn’t the worst by a longshot. Each of them got a feel for each other’s strengths and now their scouting, or ‘mapping’ in this case, would seriously put their party to the test.

When Idu first walked up to the spire long with another three mammals from Tolbana who had added onto their party, the sight was unbelievable. The spire connecting the first and second floor was _enormous._ The feeling was similar to that of when he was a kit walking through the streets of Tokyo for the very first time. The sense of scale was astounding. Idu didn’t want to fathom how big the labyrinth could’ve been on the inside. If he had to make an accurate guess solely based on how massive the pillar was, the dungeon could very well have been an actual skyscraper.

The more he thought about the sheer size of it all, the more he thought about the many monsters that lurked within the halls of the boss’s lair, and he wasn’t going to sugar coat the fact that he was incredibly scared. Based on information from another player in their now six mammal party, the enemies would consist primarily of the kobolds that he fought when he and his two friends went level grinding. At the time, he had a hard time fighting them off before because he wasn’t confident in his abilities as a swordsmammal and he was scared of dying. Now, although he had a few issues to iron out, he felt more comfortable with handling the sword skills and fighting in general and having the determination to fight after everything that's happened, all while still holding onto that fear of dying in a virtual world. The question now became whether or not he would utilize this fear and turn it into motivation to push forward and fight. Would he come all this way, only for him to chicken out right at the last second—

“Hey,” Kara said as she slapped the back of Idu’s armor, snapping the tod out of his trace. “Listen up. My friend is going to be running down what’s going to be happening when we head inside, so pay attention.”

With an affirmative nod, both foxes turned to meet the other four mammals that formed the rest of their circle, both of them placing their attention on the red panda with…

“...?”

...Soft blue fur. He had to look closer at the mammal in order to clarify, but what he was looking at was indeed a red panda, with the exception of the red fur that defined his species that had been replaced with a light blue.

He leaned over to Guardian and shot a question his way, “Dying fur in the game is possible?”

With a nod, the tod tilted his head and looked back at the panda with a confused look, but quickly relinquished the thought as the mammal took a step forward from his place in the circle. Their small meeting was about to begin.

“Thank you all for coming,” the blue panda began, his calm and serious demeanor coupled with a smooth voice a clear indication that he was leading this party. He gestured towards Idu, Kara, and Guardian.“I would like to thank you three for coming out and assisting us with this. Your help will bring us one step closer to the end of this world.”

“It's not a problem, D,” Kara nodded.

The blue panda continued, sticking his now unsheathed sword into the dirt. “As you can see, we finally made it to the boss's dungeon after three long weeks of fighting, leveling, and looting. So far, as far as we can tell no one has entered the dungeon since we got here, more than likely out of fear that they might lose their lives. That being said, we will be the first to experience this dungeon, so as long as you stick with your groups and work as a team, we shouldn't have any problems.”

The panda reached behind him into one of his various pouches located on his belt and pulled a boxy item into his grasp. It was a book, no bigger than one of the light novels Idu used to read to pass the time. On its leather-bound front cover was a distinguishable title that read in simple English, ‘Guide Book.’ When the game began, a small majority of beta testers handed the item out to the players just starting out in _Sword Art Online._ Kara made it clear that he take one of the books for himself, so he was familiar with it.

“If you all haven't already read about it in the guide book, it says that the first floor’s labyrinth is  around twenty stories tall, each floor spanning three-hundred meters across, the entirety of the tower reaching one-hundred meters tall. From what we can tell at first glance the layout of the dungeon seems to be slightly altered then what was in the beta test. The monsters inhabiting it are the same as some of the other dungeons scattered around the floor, of course being kobolds. Remember that some of these guys like to steal weapons and other items from players when they happen to be knocked out of their paws, so be sure to be aware of your surroundings and keep a tight grip on your gear. The skill level of the kobolds should be the same as how most of the dungeons are around the spire, but I don't think any of us should have a problem taking care of these guys. With that said let's split up into two groups.

“Kara, Guardian, and Idu will take the first group. Serif, Lind, and I will be the second. I don't expect mid-level or low-level bosses to be skulking around the dungeon, but if you do come across them, work as a team and dispatch them like the other ones on the floor. If anyone finds loot, they get to keep it. Any questions?”

Idu put his paw halfway into the air, all eyes now cast onto him.

“Yes, Idu?”

“Do… do we get to trade the items to our party members if the item suits their build more?”

The uncertainty in his voice and the nature of the question caused light chuckles while some rolled their eyes. Even Kara face-pawed. Idu’s ears fell back and awkwardly looked away. He felt as if he shouldn't have asked the question in the first place, it was a stupid question anyways. Any illusion of him being a highly skilled player was effectively thrown out the window.

But, instead of receiving flak, the blue panda just smiled and gave him a straight answer. “If you feel that the item could be better suited with one of your party members, then I don't see why not.”

Idu let out the breath pent up in his chest. At least he didn't give Idu a hard time. Was it obvious to the group that he was just another newbie in the MMO world?

The panda continued, “We’ll meet back here at six o'clock sharp. There we’ll discuss what we've found and strategies to help us move forward with finding the boss.”

“We’ll be sharing the map data at that point, right Diavel?”

“Yes,” he said flatly to Kara’s question, “If others wish to join us, then the map data will be made public for them to start. If not, then it will help for getting directly to the boss’s lair. The moment anyone finds the door, message the group and we’ll regroup back outside the tower.”

The group nodded in agreement, Idu included.

The blue furred knight pulled his sword out of the ground with his right paw and grabbed the kite shaped shield that was holstered onto his back with the other, turning his body towards the door.

“Well,” he said, “Let’s go find this boss and get to the next floor.”

Led by Diavel, the six of them entered the cylindrical tower and began climbing the spiral staircase up toward the dungeon.

Torches dimly lit the desolate atmosphere of the staircase and allowed them to traverse up and into the labyrinth without having to worry about tripping on the steps or  clumsily falling back down. The dungeon itself was similar in that it was dark and grim, lit by only a few select torches as it eventually diverged outward into several different hallways.

With one final nod, Diavel’s squad traversed down the hallway on the far right while Kara and her team took on the leftward most hallway. Kara opened her menu to the map and began leading the way, leaving Idu and Guardian to follow close behind. Idu turned his head down the hallway and watched as the other group was consumed by the darkness of the dungeon, their mission finally dawning onto the tod. It would the last time the six of them would meet together before grouping back up in the afternoon. It was going to be full day of exploration. Idu prepared himself, turning his head back forward, continuing to follow the now surprisingly quiet vixen and lion.

Idu wasn't going to lie about his feelings towards the whole mission, and although he was thrilled that Kara felt confident enough to bring him along for the ride, he was caught in the middle of either feeling downright terrified or overbearingly confident in his abilities as a swordsmammal to land a single hit on another monster. The tod was leaning toward the former. However, if Kara felt confident and comfortable with him in their team, then the least he could do is try.

In the midst of the eerie silence that the three of them shared, the vixen’s bland voice bounced around the walls in the form of a question, directed at the tod.

“I noticed that you switched your weapon to that rapier. Do you plan on using it today?”

“Yes,” Idu answered ambiguously, “Why do you ask?”

“If you want my honest opinion, I recommend that you don't use it.”

Idu raised a brow, his defensiveness begging yet another question.  “Why not?”

“Have you ever heard of the phrase ‘if it isn't broken, why fix it?’ Switching up your strategy just when you're starting to get the hang of the sword skills is only going to put you in a bad spot more than it's going to help you.”

The tod couldn't help but think otherwise. When he practiced with the rapier the night prior, he felt confident in every motion he made and all the skills he learned that accompanied the weapon. He made sure to make this point.

“But with the rapier I feel way faster than I did before, plus the weight of the blade and the speed of the attacks feels absolutely perfect for what I want.”

“I don't think it's a good idea.”

“Why not? I thought you were confident in my skills?”

The vixen stopped, sighed, and turned around. She crossed her arms and gave him a stern look.

“You may be doing well with learning the core concepts to _SAO_ , but for a noob you still have a lot to learn to become decent at the game. Overconfidence can lead to arrogance, Idu. Don’t make that mistake. It could lead to your downfall.”

Although the shot at Idu’s will hurt him, he wasn't going to start yelling at his friend over something minute. He wanted to be frank about his choice.

“I'm not being arrogant, I'm just telling you that I feel comfortable with the rapier more than I do the sword, Kara. If it comes down to it I'd rather have something that suits me.”

“I can't teach you the rapier skills.”

“All I need are the essential skills and knowledge of how the game works. I can learn the rapier skills on my own from the skill menu. They have detailed instructions on how to use the skills I already know. Other than that, it's all about learning new skills through side-quests.”

“Well, what if you were to die, Idu?” the question shot back at him. “Huh? What if you were to die because you decided that you wanted to ‘change things up’ or ‘try something new?’ You would be throwing your life away. If you got killed how would you be able to avenge your friends? I sure they—”

“Leave them out of this, Kara.”

“No,” she uttered as she stood her ground, making the tod increasingly angrier as water began welling in his eyes, “they are the ones you need to be thinking of before you do something that affects the way you play. If the whole point is for you to make it out alive, then you need to stop acting like a knowitall and act like—”

Before the vixen could react the tod hastily pulled the thin weapon out of its sheath and charged up a sword skill, the blade glowing a bright green as he sped forward. Kara's eyes went wide, as she remained  powerlessly frozen, more than likely waiting for a power strike against her avatar in Idu’s eyes. However, she wasn't his target.

He shot past both Kara and the lion observing the conversation beside them, and toward the gang of kobolds that had snuck behind her. Allowing the system to partially assist in the motion, his blade struck the two kobolds closest to his party member sending them far enough away to create some distance. One of them screeched.

_“Rrrraaaaaaaa!!”_

This signal prompted the third kobold to back off and regroup with his wounded comrades, making a hasty retreat further into the dungeon where they would make their next strike.

With their surroundings clear Idu let out a slow breath then looked at the blade with a sullen expression. The words that came afterward slipped out of his muzzle in a low mumble, but could clearly be distinguished under the echo.

“When I got this weapon, when I was practicing with it last night, at the time I couldn't describe how I felt. Every step, every move I made felt so right it… it was astonishing. I felt quicker in a way. It felt right. I don't think could ever thank Calgerie enough for giving this sword to me, because without him I could never have found a more suitable type of weapon.”

“‘Calgerie’ is just another mindless NPC in a digital world,” the vixen pointed out. “It's not a player, it can't feel or die the way we can. It’s practically nothing. You'd be thanking no one.”

“I disagree. From the way he acted when I gave the pocketwatch back, there's no way a simple NPC could show complex levels of emotion. It was like I was talking to a real mammal.”

Idu sheathed the sword in his paw and turned to his two other party members, his voice just a little bit stronger as he rose his head up for his eyes to meet their eyes.

“I wasn't fast enough to save Sato from dying in this game, and I wasn't smart enough to save Kadin. It’s been eating away at me ever since the start of this hell. But, with this sword and everything that I've learned these last few weeks, I think… actually, I _know_ that can  help to prevent that sort of thing from happening again. I won't let it. I’ll be fast. I’ll be faster than before.” He slowly marched back to retain his position that he agreed to take on this mission in the back left, turning his gaze aimlessly to the wall. “Sorry for delaying our mapping,” Idu said as he turned back towards Kara, “let’s continue.”

Out of the corner of his eye he saw her turn back towards the darkness of the unexplored dungeon and brought her map back up with a swipe and a couple taps of her paw. Although Idu didn’t have the strength to look at his party leader in the eye, he would have to perform his duty and keep an watchful eye on his surroundings. The kobolds in the dungeon seemed more malicious than usual. The last thing they needed was a disarmed player to protect. More specifically, they didn't need some noob tying them down. He was determined to not let it happen.

 

* * *

 

 

With one final strike from Kara’s sword after a well placed parry by Idu, the enemy kobold in front of her froze mid air as the remainder of its his health bar depleted, finally exploding into a million bright blue polygons another second after. The area was clear.

The three mammal party promptly sheathed their weapons and quickly looked over their newly obtained loot, XP, and money from the monsters they killed. Guardian assumed that nothing important had been dropped, because apart from the sigh that escaped the lion’s lungs and the call-outs from their fights, banter between the three of them was down to a bare minimum. On one end of the room Kara was deeply invested into the map in front of her. At the other end, Idu was skulking around the edges of the room lost in his own world. Upon this first glance it seemed that The tod was simply tired after a long day of fighting, the vixen equally so with the bags that were under both of their eyes. However, he knew very well that fatigue was not the case.

Kara was obviously struggling to maintain her composure. Put under the stress of bringing the group together and maintaining control as their party's leader, coupled with whatever may have been going on with her the previous night, she was driving herself to the ground. Meanwhile, Idu was still trying to cope with the loss of both of his friends under the circumstances of Kayaba's world and in turn was blaming himself for their deaths. Then he decided to change up his play style from something he was getting the hang of to something completely different that caused Kara to go nuclear. And ever since their argument when they entered the labyrinth, they refused to communicate with each other, and Guardian was caught in the middle. The whole situation was giving him a massive headache.

He sympathised with his sister for various reasons, one of which being that the tod was switching things up when his fighting style was working not even a day ago. Changing tactics so suddenly and without warning put both Guardian and Kara on the spot and forced them to adapt to the quick fighting style of the rapier sword skills. If they were normal players and not skilled beta testers this change could have been potentially life-threatening. Taking that into consideration, Kara had every right to be mad.

On the other hand, however, when he thought about Idu’s situation he couldn’t help but sympathise with what he was trying to do. Ever since the start of the game he was trying to cope anyway that he could. It seemed that fighting and learning about the game took his mind off of things for a while, and he looked to be enjoying himself. But, obviously that wasn’t the case. Idu felt that being faster was the only way he could atone for what he thought was his fault, and the rapier was his ticket to achieving that atonement. From what Guardian witnessed when he fought, he was convinced that Idu was nearly two times as good with his new sword than he was with his original one-handed sword.

Guardian was at a loss. Seeing either one of his teammates in a funk didn’t sit right with him. They needed to be at their best in order for them to clear the game. Dreading on what had happened before and worrying about change wasn’t going to be in their best interest if their teamwork was going to suffer for it.

So the question remained: how was he going to help fix this? Unlike Kara, he wasn’t skilled at handling situations like this. The most could do was supply a few puns and crack a few jokes, and he sincerely doubted that either one of them wanted that right now. He needed to give them time.

At the thought of time the lion looked up toward the top right corner of his HUD, then stared at the clock.

“Hey guys,” he spoke, bringing both foxes’ attention to him. “It’s five o’clock. We should message Diavel and the others so we can start to group up back at the entrance. They’ll probably want to combine the map data.”

“We should.” Kara nodded, her paws fiddling around her menu until she ended up at her messages. She quickly typed something out on the floating menu screen in front of her and with a final tap, sent it out to the second group’s leader. “Done. Let’s make our way to the exit.”

“Let’s,” Idu agreed, retaining his position as they all formed back up, exiting the large room without a second thought.

The winding grungy hallways riddled throughout the first level of the labyrinth became less of a burden now that most of it had been explored and cleared of kobolds. The only possible threat that lied ahead would be the enemies that had undoubtedly respawned near the front of the dungeon, but they weren't that menacing to begin with, so they should be easily taken care of if they worked as a team.

Guardian grimaced at the thought. As far as  their teamwork was concerned their fighting style and strategy was great. They all knew each other's strengths and weaknesses, and they all cared about making it to the next floor. Communication had now turned into the enemy with their prior argument fueling the flames of their angst and mistrust which left the lion in a trail of awkward silence. There wasn't even ambient music like there was in typical RPGs to help make the walking better. In fact, he even attempted to hum his own tunes to try and pass the time, but that managed to last only a couple minutes before it got tiring.

 _If only they could just make up and get it over with,_ he thought to himself. _It's just pointless._

Kayaba made it clear during the tutorial of the game, if you die in the game you die in the real world as well. With only ten thousand players in the game, meeting new players on the higher floors was a chore, and keeping those friends and progressing along with them to clear the game made that task completely non-existent. This squavel between Kara and Idu had to end.

As Diavel put it, he, Kara, and Guardian were beta testers. Amongst all the players currently in the game, they were some of the most capable of assisting with clearing the game. And now with more than fifteen hundred players dead, staying on the lower floors and doing nothing was no longer an option—not that it was before. If they had any chance of beating this floor, they needed to get their head in the game. All their argument came down to was adapting to change, and Kara and him were more than capable as the experienced players.

Guardian let out a sigh. It seemed that he would have to be the one to give them the initial push. The lion looked back to Idu’s position and opened his maw…

“...?”

...Only to find his position completely vacant. The lion began searching the immediate area for the tod, fearing that he might have gone and went ahead on his own. Although, it took him a second to realize that this fear was irrational.

Idu had gone up ahead and was walking by Kara’s side. His paws were stuffed deep within his pockets and his head was low, ears stapled to the back of his skull like Kara’s were.

The lion grinned. It looked like he was in the clear after all.

“Hey,” the tod mumbled.

“What are you doing up here,” Kara asked, “Aren’t you supposed to be covering the left flank with Guardian?”

“I just wanted to come up here and apologize.” Kara looked away from the map and faced Idu, the menu in front of her disappearing without a trace once her attention was focused on him. “I should have told you or at the very least asked about changing my play style before mapping today. It put both of you on the spot and it changed the strategy that was already working before. It was shitty of me to do that, I’m sorry.”

Guardian cracked a grin. Idu handled the situation like any kind-hearted mammal would. He was almost proud of the tod.

“If you want me to switch back to the sword, I’ll understand. I’m sure I’ll get used to it eventually—”

“No, you shouldn’t,” the vixen interrupted, “I should apologize as well. I made a big deal out of one simple change that shouldn’t really hold an impact on our teamwork. Guardian and I are more than capable than adapting to change, I just let something personal get in the way.”

“...”

Just as Idu was about to prompt some concern, she stopped him and flashed him a grin.

“I’m fine, really. It’s something stupid anyways. In terms of your new rapier, your fighting seems almost flawless now. I’d rather you be comfortable with the weapon you’re holding than conform and use something that's only going to hold you back. Besides, you have your reasons too. I shouldn’t be selfish. If anyone should be sorry it’s me.”

The corners of Idu’s mouth raised as well, a paw now resting atop of his sheathed blade.

“Thank you. I won’t let you down.”

“I know you won’t.”

 

* * *

 

 

_“Hyaaah!”_

The clash of both blade and one handed battle-axe caused sparks to fly through the wide hallway of the dungeon. The kobold who defended the oncoming attack from the vixen sword and shield user as now knocked backward, wide open for another attack. A sharp voice filled the air.

“Switch!”

Idu readied his weapon upon the command and focused directly on the kobold in front of Kara, wasting no time to charge his sword skill and ready his blade. The tod gripped the hilt of his rapier tightly in his paw. The tod stared down his kobold opponent, then put to motion the skill prepared on his blade, the three part combo, ‘triangular.’

“...!”

The blade hit the kobold directly in the chest, the first two hits taking a small percentage of the enemy’s life before the third knocked it back off of it’s feet, three evenly spaced bright red holes showing off the impact of what he had procured.

Before the enemy’s health gauge whittled away to nothing, a shrill scream escaped the kobold’s digital throat, piercing the tod’s ears before a plume of blue polygons took the kobolds place.

_“Gwwrrrahh…”_

With the kobold gone and the area finally clear of the five other enemies that blocked their path, the group was able to finally relax, the tod able to finally release the breath pent up in his lungs. He took a look at both the vixen and lion who were attempting to catch their breath.

For the most part the two of them seemed to be calm and collected, donning that stereotypical experienced player vibe that most of the beta testers showed after combat—or so he thought, using Kara, Guardian, and Diavel as prime examples.

This whole mapping endeavor allowed Idu to see each of the beta testers in action, and they never disappointed. They didn’t miss a beat with any of their sword skills, and seeing them was immensely worth it. They actually made Idu want to strive to get to that level of experience, and despite him being just another newbie to this realm of swords, being around them during the mapping process made him feel like a pro, and their progress showed it.

In just a week they—along with another party and a few other players—managed to break through to the last floor of the boss’s labyrinth. It would be any day now that they would find the door to the boss’s lair, one step closer to the second floor. However, in this past week players were starting to grow desperate and venture out of the comfort of the towns and into the wilderness. A foolish endeavor to say the least.

Now, on December 3rd, 2022, more than two thousand players were dead, erased from both Aincrad and the real world. A fifth of the of the playerbase, wiped out without so much as a thought. It scared Idu more than he liked it too.

But, one thing was certain. If they didn’t get past the first floor soon, players would lose that last sliver of hope they had left, and once that hope ran out, they would never be able to convince anyone to help clear the game.

Idu sheathed the sword in his paw back into the holster on his left hip, then stepped towards Kara who had already navigated to the map in her menu.

“How much closer are we to completing the map,” he asked, leaning in close to catch a glimpse at the screen.

“You know, there are such things as boundaries, Idu. But, to answer your question,” she minimised the view to bring up the entire floor on her map, the incomplete layout of the level they were on clearly shown on her screen, “We still have a large chunk of the northwest section of the labyrinth to go.”

Idu glanced up at the time. “It’s 11:57,” he called out. “Are we going to skip lunch to finish up the mapping? We’re really close to finishing it up.”

Kara nodded. “With only a little bit of the map to go, if we quit now we’d lose our chance to tell everyone as soon as possible. We can’t let this opportunity slip through our paws.”

“Right.” Idu agreed.

“Well,” Guardian spoke, “let’s get moving.”

The group continued their trek along the hallways of the labyrinth, the lion and tod keeping a close eye out for trouble as the vixen remained buried in the map in front of her. Guardian had fallen to telling extremely terrible jokes, while Idu stayed silent in his position. It felt like an eternity.

Ten minutes of walking flew by before something remotely interesting happened—a chest guarded by monsters filled with decent loot.

Five minutes after that left the party with even more walking, joking, and even more walking which left Idu reeling for something interesting to happen. He didn't want to know how Kara was faring against the onslaught of cringy quips, he wanted to assume not well, but that half smile seemed to say otherwise.

But, while the lion was in the middle of another joke, Idu noticed something strange up ahead of them. Before them was another hallway that branched off  to the right of the corridor they were in, abnormal indicator that there might be another room full of loot. He wasn't going to pay much mind to something like this, but there was one issue that made this hallway even stranger: they were already on the edge of the floor, and going by the rest of the ones prior, so there shouldn't be anything on their right side. Idu had to beg the question.

“You guys see that, right?”

“I see it,” Kara replied, adjusting her map’s view.

“There shouldn't be anything there,” Guardian chimed in.

“There shouldn't,” the vixen confirmed.

The group of three moved closer to the branching hallway, Kara keeping an eye on her map while Idu and Guardian peered sneakily around the corner. What lied before them made their eyes grow wide.

“Wow,” Idu’s childlike wonder uttered under his breath as he entered the room.

The three players walked slowly forward to what wasn’t a hallway, but the entrance to another room entirely. This space wasn’t small by any means, it was large enough to hold at least forty or fifty rhinos back to back, and then some. It was lit by torches sparingly around the walls with two spires full of fire, and held no furniture to speak of. In addition, there were no monsters either. But, perhaps the crown jewel of this discovery, lied at the far end of the room planted dead center against the wall.

The thing the players had been searching for a whole week was finally in their sights. Large wooden doors accented with metal fittings and decorative stone outcroppings along the edges that gave the place a medieval vibe. There was no doubt, it was the fabled entryway to the boss’s lair, and they were standing in the middle of the staging area. They found it.

“We found it,” Idu muttered excitedly, inattentively casting his friends voices to the wayside as he went off to inspect the room.

“Yes, indeed we did.” The lion turned to the other fox behind him on his left, “Did you send a message to Diavel, Kara?”

She gave him a nod. “I just got his message. He wants us to group back at the entrance so we can converge the information as a group, then release it to the public once we get back to town.”

“Sounds reasonable,” Guardian nodded, crossing his arms. “Knowing him I bet he wants to jump on this as soon as possible.”

“You’re probably right. Taking down Illfang needs to be the number one priority. Morale of the playerbase is reaching all time low according to several infobrokers, and it's obvious that it has to do with how slow mapping has been. They probably think that we’ve given up.”

“Well, let’s show them that we still have some fight left in us.”

“Right,” the lion nodded in agreement.

“Idu,” Kara’s voice boomed as she turned to the now frightened Idu, “Are you ready to go?”

“Y-yeah. I'm ready to go. We're meeting up with Diavel, right?”

“Did you listen to anything we just talked about?”

“...No, sorry.”

The vixen’s fingers pinched the bridge of her nose as an annoyed sigh escaped her muzzle. “Diavel will fill you in once we get back down.”

“Sounds good,” Idu replied, following his two other party members out and away from the room.


End file.
